I've been having massive trouble with my back recently, well since I got to Russia. I think it's a combination of my bed here & the satchel style bag I brought out. I thought that a satchel style bag might be safer & easier to deal with here so I left my beloved Longchamp to the care of my mother (much to her delight!) and brought a random satchel bag. Unfortunately it's completely messed up my back and my muscles have been screeching in pain for the past 3 weeks!
Today was the final straw. I went to the big mall at киевская (Kievskaya) station and had a wander. This place is HUGE. It's set on 5 floors, including a basement and has a massive variety of stores. It's even separated into the Moscow Atrium, London Atrium and others just so that people can locate the stores! There is a mixture of Western shops like River Island, Topshop, Zara and Next to name a few, and Russian shops. I even saw a Kira Plastina! I might have to pop in there and buy something just because I love the brand - unless you read Teen Vogue you won't have a clue who she is! Also there's an American Eagle Outfitters, which makes me super jealous!
The only problem with all the Western stores you find out here is that the prices are wayyy higher than they are in their home country. There's at least an extra £5-£15 added on top of what the item would cost in the UK/US. I know this because I researched AE prices before I left home today just so I could work it out, and the price tags in Accessorize have the £ & € prices on them too.
After much store trawling and gasping at extortionate prices I found a suitable bag in Accessorize and used my debit card for the first time in a month! Gosh I've missed used it! It's so weird for me to be using cash all the time. I hardly ever use cash in the UK/US and just make use of my plastic. I guess this is a good way for me to become more aware of the money I spend so it's a good lesson for me! I'm sure my Daddy will be very impressed with me!
The only thing is here the Russians are so suspicious of credit & debit cards! The lady in the store gave me the biggest evils when I proffered my plastic. I think its because they don't like or understand the concept of an IOU & owing money via a credit/debit card. Rather amusing really. I will say that I often find myself laughing or smiling at things I see here in Russia just because it's so funny. There's a store here, a mens suit store which claims to be from London, not that I've ever heard of it! Its name is "The Windsor Knot", which I find funny because of what it means. My Russian friends & other friends however didn't seem to understand why I was laughing.....!
Good news is that I found a Russian (but made in Deutschland) version of animal crackers which should keep me highly contented in terms of snacking whilst I'm here. Though I can never quite bring myself to eat the final animal, I always feel sorry for it!
