Yet Another Typical Moscow Night

So I had a pretty great night tonight. After class, I came home, studied, did some reading, and then I went out to meet this girl that I became acquainted with a few nights ago. Nearly every aspect of my evening was an experience that could only occur in Moscow.
First, on the way to the Metro, I have to walk through a passageway that goes under the street, and there was a woman with a keyboard singing "Ave Maria." And honestly, it was one of the most beautiful things I have ever heard, I actually got a little choked up while I was leaving the passage.
The cafe we went to was a cozy little Italian restaurant, we had some pizza and tea and good conversation. However, the cafe closed at 11, so we had to figure out what to do next. We decided on Red Square, because I hadn't been there at night before.
So we set out for Red Square and arrived, walked out of the Metro, and to our surprise Red Square was closed off and guarded by cruise missile launchers. So I wondered if something terrible had happened on Red Square, until I realized that they were rehearsing for the May 9 Victory Day parade. At first I could hear a dull roaring, and thought it was airplanes, until I realized it was formations of soldiers shouting. We talked to a few of the soldiers guarding the proceedings (although they had tanks and cruise missiles and god knows what else), and they said that they would do this every night until May 9, so next time I won't forget my camera.
Needless to say we were unable to get into Red Square, so we walked to the Garden Ring, and saw all of the tanks and vehicles waiting to drive into Red Square. After walking for a few minutes they all turned on at the same time, and started driving. It was amazing. I can't believe I got to see that, an American at the Russian display of military strength? I could have gotten killed if I were there 25 years ago.
So we finished our walk, got on the Metro, and had our last Moscow experience of the night when we walked past a woman sprawled on the ground, looking like she was in deep trouble, possibly dead. She was being taken care of, so we kept walking. And then I got home.
I can't believe I saw Victory Day rehearsals. My parents will believe it less. Our world is so much different, it defies comprehension.