People in Glass Bridges shouldn't throw stones.

For weeks I have felt philosophical. Unfortunately for me, I have been unable to write anything philosophical to match my mood. Hmm. I could try and put some omni-present philosophical ramblings into my activities of the last two weekends, which have been a helluva lotta fun I must say.

There has been one real focus of the last two weekends. My single purpose, so to speak has been to seek out the elusive Glass Gridges. In fact, I have, together with my faithful sidekick, Princess Sveta, located three such wonders of engineering. Two weekends ago we discovered the Glass Bridge near Gorky Park.. This one is predominantly, a triangular prism, with a yellow frame. The floor is a granite/marble finish (rough) And there are areas which one can wander outside and take photos of certain landmarks such as the Buran Space Shuttle which is parked just inside Gorky Park. (My guess is that’s where it broke down, and the cosmonauts couldn’t get it started again)

But the main action is inside this bridge. There is the occasional seat, and omni-present (This is the word of the day if you haven’t already guessed.) Militsia guard. Conveniently, seeing as today is the Sabbath, they aren’t pushing for bribes. Instead, they lend themselves, and their behind to our Photo Tour of Glass Bridges 2005. The first glass bridge leaves me with an admiration for the individual(s) who designed it. My thirst for finding more had just become anti-quenched. That is to say, I wanted more. Princess Svetlana informed me that there were two other known examples of engineering wizardry located within the cities borders. So a week of hard teaching-based work, as well as much anticipation passed. Saturday came, and the hunt continued……

After trekking through the jungle, swinging from Metro Station to Metro Station, fighting our way through thick people-based vegetation and warding off dangerous creatures like Militsia and Begging Babushkas, we come to a location called Evropa Ploschad, or in angleeskiy (English) Europe Square. This square consists of a structure which has several flagpoles, all flying the colours of the various European Nations. But we ignore the square, our intentions, hopes, and dreams set searching for greener pastures. Suddenly, there it is. The second behemoth wonder of Glass-based River Crossing Structures. Aesthetically, it was identical in design to the first Bridge at Gorky Park. Same trademark Triangular Prism design. In some parts, it was even the same yellow. However there was a distinguishing feature of this particular bridge. I noticed that the design engineer has opted for a wooden floor instead of stone. Then I thought he would be shocked to see the state of it now. The varnish had all but been forcibly removed, similar to the drunk patron who had been forcibly been removed from a Slot Club (read, RSL/Pokies) near Domodedovskaya. (Not really, I didn’t see that happen, but you understand how it feels for the varnish) Either way, this bridge also had other offerings of goodness. For example, in one of the downstairs areas, there were these mushroom flavoured (or shaped) lights, one of which I fell in love with. (See the pictures) Actually, only one other offering.

So we trekked on. We knew the location of a third Glass Bridge. Independent sources told of the remarkable beauty of this last remaining unit. We were extraordinarily excited to be on the viewing end of the incredible structure. To help us maintain our composure, we called for backup in the form of Princess Sveta’s noble friends, Olga and Sergei. This would turn out to be a huge advantage later on when it came time to persuade Sveta to visit Uncle Lenin on the way to Glass Bridge No 3.

We meet our comrades in arm, and travel by Metro to the Station, Ulitsa 1905 Goda, which means Year 1905 Street. In actual fact it takes half an hour to pronounce in Russian because it is said similar to Ulitsa One Thousand, Nine Hundred and 5 Goda, which in Russian, sounds impossible to pronounce. And then we walk, and we walk. And when we tire of walking, we walk further. Across oceans, over mountains, through the fires of Mordoor, through parks full of yellow leaves, fallen and falling, until we see someone sitting on a chair. We all recognized the man. Uncle Lenin had found himself a comfortable seat in a park when king Titass (King Midas’ brother) had come along and touched him. And he had been turned into bronze ever since. Svetlana mentioned that has lap was rather worn and suggested that many had come before and taken a seat. Olga suggested that perhaps Uncle Lenin wouldn’t mind if she too took a seat. The idea seemed quite exciting for her and she boldly walked up to the Pioneer of the Revolution and took a seat. As you can see from the photo’s, the excitement is quite hard for her to contain. We take some photos, and we have to persuade her to let Uncle Lenin take his nap. She reluctantly gets off the Bolshevik.

We walk further, longer, faster. With renewed strength, we see the structure for which we searched to any end. It was gorgeous. It was unlike anything I had ever seen. Suddenly the fond memories of the two other Glass Bridges, simply melted before the searing wonder of this Bridge. It wasn’t just a bridge, it was a lifestyle choice. It was a religion. The closer we got, the grander it got. We were close enough to walk through the entry, I took a deep breath, took off my shoes, and bowed to the icon in the center of the entry hall. But, the gang delayed. There was a new Metro Station beneath this structure. Olga insisted that we see it. I obliged. I would savour this moment later.

We went down, 1, 2, 3 escalators. Through 1, 2, 3, 4 doors. Through the enchanted forest, we climbed the Faraway Tree and after beating Dick, Fanny and a Gollywog off some magic toadstools, we vowed never to eat those magic toadstools again. Actually after we went through the fourth door, we walked straight past the trap door to the Faraway Tree and straight into Delevoy Tsentr Metro Station. We pointed, admired the shiny floors, contemplated running off with a carelessly misplaced fridge, and then returned to the entry hall of the glass bridge. And then we take the plunge, and levitate up a flight of stairs to the bridge. (Those toadstools were still wearing off)

OH MY GOD. I thought I had seen it all. Last week, I had witnessed Vorob’Evy Goriy Metro Station that had been on a bridge. Now, I was seeing shops. Yes, there was an art show, a broadband and mobile service shop, a café, a slot club, a menswear shop with some really nice shirts, 2 underwear shops (for ze women) and an umbrella and travel shop. And there was glass. And lots of it. Everything I have just mentioned was on this glass bridge. The design was completely different to the previous two bridges. Where the others had opted for angular, linear design concepts, this bridge had attributes of ergonomic design principles. Sensory overload. Futuristic featurettes and double prismatic ultra violet super yield very dirty laser glass gave the bridge, that modern feel. The design was simple, yet executed so magically. The feeling of awe was second to none. It was over too quickly. We had already reached the other side of the bridge. This side was the tower side. The tower, like the bridge was ultra modern and it had a very unique clock which would have looked sensational at night. I promise to take a photo of it at night for you. I want a smaller clock like that one to mount on my wall. SO COOL.

So, there we are, we had seen the fabled Glass Bridges. I had a crazy idea of furthering our search to the rest of Europe. But that is another bed time story for another evening’s slumber. Now sleep minions of the Southern Hemisphere. It’s way past your bedtimes. Pleasant dreams to all.

Matt.