However, anybody here can travel anywhere in the city they want in less than an hour. Even young students have more independence. Even though I do not have a car here, I can be at Red Square in 30 minutes whenever I want just by hopping on the metro. I am glad that the trains come every two minutes, because the stations nearly fill with people in only two minutes! If Russians had to wait eight minutes for their train, they might not all fit in the station! The train system is also set up quite nicely as a big circle, with the Kremlin and Putin's government being at the center and all of the trains passing nearby. There is a ring around the center where Russians can switch to other trains so they can get to where they need to go. This line is the brown line, and there is a joke about why they gave it that color. When the designers drew up the plans for the trains and gave them to Stalin, he placed his coffee down on the plans while reading them. The designers said "Oh, great idea Comrade Stalin, a circular train in the center to connect all the others!". Since his coffee stain was brown, the train was also colored brown. One more interesting fact about the metro is that it has always had escalators to bring people down and up through the metro. Good thing, too, because the trains are found very deep underground!
I am very used to using trains every day since I go to school in Chicago, but they are much faster and prettier here. I am also able to walk and be more active every day getting to where I need and want to go. I have walked nearly ten miles every day, and it feels great!
