police tagged posts

In Europe, Eastern Europe 2002 On  20/07/2002  No comments

Here I also liked the subway. The stations are well decorated with marble, statues and huge lamps. The escalators are not so big and deep as the ones in St. Petersburg.

My first day I went straight to see the Red Square. It shouldn’t be called red square, its name comes from a word from old Russian that means beautiful. Nowadays this word also means red, it is why the square started to be called red.

I stopped I few subway stations away and I went walking. As much as I walked more I was surprised by the amount of shops. I can’t think of a clothing or sport brand that there is no a shop in Moscow. Streets, trains, underground passages are loaded with advertising. I really didn’t expect that much. I believe they are a lot more capitalists than we are. The scary part is that they stared not so long ago. It is sad to see it…

Next day I visited the Kremlin. I had problems to get in with photographic equipment. They didn’t let me go in with my equipment backpack...

In America, Ecuador 2001 On  01/05/2001  No comments

I woke up early to see the May Day parade. The city had stopped, there was not even buses circulating. I caught a taxi to the old town to wait for the parade. Arriving there I realized that there was police all over the place. All the streets that led to the Plaza Grande (where the Government building is) were closed with barricades of policemen. They did not allow anyone to pass through. It could feel a certain tension in the air.

I went to the parade street. It was very organized. It looked like that all the crowds were there represented: farmers, students, laborers, children, indigenous… It was like a carnival, it passed by groups with flags, uniforms, bands, costumes… The public was squeezed on the sidewalks attending the manifestants to pass. It seemed a party day, everybody was outside. There were ice-cream, sodas, food and flag sellers…

The parade ends up in the Plaza San Domingo, three blocks away of Plaza Grande...