Moscow shuts down

Moscow is pretty much shut down this week. For the past couple of days, the capital’s wide arteries have been largely empty – either for massive May Day rallies or sad citywide runs that garnered woefully few people.

The “May holidays” last from May 1 through May 9, when Russia celebrates Victory (in WWII) Day. Some people will come back to work in between, some won’t. The pace of life slows to a trickle.

It’s a nice break from what we usually get. Lately, The Moscow Times has been putting together slice-of-life videos exploring the daily randomness that is the Russian capital. With the streets as empty as they are, I was reminded of this recent one, which shows how the traffic here is so mad that even walking on the sidewalk becomes an obstacle.