Arnold Schwarenegger rides the Moscow Metro

Last Monday’s executive visit to Moscow by California Governor Arnold Schwarenegger was met with curiosity by most Russians. Not his first trip to Russia, most Russians have watched his movies and his ties to Europe give him credibility with folks on this side of the ocean.

Monday night  the governor decided to ride the famous Moscow Metro. Accompanied by FSB and Moscow police escorts the governor and his party entered underground Metro station Okhotny Ryad (Охотный ряд) near the Kremlin and traveled a short distance to Metro station Novokuznetskaya (Новокузнецкая) near his hotel.

(photo: LifeShowBiz) Governor Арнольд Шварценеггер (Arnold Schwarzenegger) passes thru the electronic turnstile.

Led past the cashier and directly to the turnstile entrances, naturally official state guests are not required to purchase Metro cards. Apparently Metro officials were caught off guard, however, but not to worry as the former world weightlifting champion wasn’t going to allow a simple metal turnstile stop him descent to the underground trains.

Score: Governor 1, Turnstile 0.

(photo: LifeShowBiz) The California governor seemed to enjoy his ride on the world's second busiest underground subway.

It was just a short ride to Metro station Novokuznetskaya and the governor and his party exited up the escalator and walked to their hotel. Journalists joked that riders on the train seemed enchanted with the sight of Schwarenegger riding the Metro and one writer observed that it was as if passengers had “lost their ability to speak.”

About these ads

~ by mendeleyeev on 18/10/2010.