08-16-2014, 03:05 PM
Drayson laughed heartily to her question, smiling warmly all the while. "You have seen my entire repertoire, Victoria. Or shall, I suppose. If fine dining and beautiful decor does not work, then it is the pub and the stories that come with it. And I assure you, the old patrons there have many interesting stories."
He pondered in silence a moment, giving her question serious thought. Academically, he knew quite a bit about the city's more interesting and touristy areas, although that was more due to job requirement then academic interest. Such places were hot-beds of petty crime and identity theft, as well as prime targets for groups like were tearing up DV.
Like himself, her schedule probably did not allow her the time to go sight-seeing at the more common times of day. There were always night tours, but many of those were oriented towards ghost-stories and local legends rather then architecture and more main-steam takes on history.
"The Kolomenskoe Museum-Reserve provides a rather pleasant view of the skyline and river day or night, and has a wealth of regional history. Much of the architecture you can see there was moved stone for stone from other regions and rebuilt in their original style at the reserve."
Another bite of his food and moment's thought.
"Or, if you wish to get out of the city for a bit, there are many villages that dot the local countryside. Some date back to the 11th Century or earlier. There is a legend that the village of Dyakovo hosts the Lost Library of Ivan the Terrible. Reputedly full of magic tomes and works of Arabic and Christian lore of exceeding rarity. Supposedly, the Library fell into the bowels of Hell and is guarded by the spirits of Ivan's last loyal soldiers. There are night tours that go to various sites that play host to such lore."
That story only held his interest because it had persisted for centuries, with some historians having traced it as recently as the 1980s before all inquires were seemingly dropped. The idea of that library was intriguing to him simply for what knowledge and history was housed within, but truthfully, it seemed unlikely such a thing truly existed, else someone would have found it by now.
His Wallet buzzed silently in his pocket, and he smiled apologetically once more as he plucked it free to see what it had to say. A different on-going case; The Butcher, a serial rapist/murderer who had been plaguing Moscow for the past few months with at least ten known victims already.
The message contained a detailed autopsy of the latest victim, and he chose not to peruse it at the moment. The others had been...disturbing...to say the least. His expression darkened momentarily; there could be no denying that he wanted the culprit off the streets. He'd already lost one certifiable sicko, and had no interest in a second slipping through his fingers. But, he had faith in the detectives working the case; he was simply overseeing from a distance, ready to cut any red tape they ran into to assure they could continue to progress as quickly as possible.
The Wallet was tucked away again and he shook his head before taking a sip of wine to dispel the ill taste the case had left in his throat. "I don't mean to sound like a tour guide. There was a group hosting a fake night tour company. They would take online bookings and payments in advance for a tour that didn't exist. Learned a thing or two about the industry while we were looking into it."
He recognized the neighborhood she lived in by name and nodded in approval, impressed by the location. "Quite close to the Kremlin. You are lucky to have found so convenient a place. Near an hour commute by metro for myself. But I rather enjoy it. All sorts of interesting people to be met, if you can stand the crowds."
He pondered in silence a moment, giving her question serious thought. Academically, he knew quite a bit about the city's more interesting and touristy areas, although that was more due to job requirement then academic interest. Such places were hot-beds of petty crime and identity theft, as well as prime targets for groups like were tearing up DV.
Like himself, her schedule probably did not allow her the time to go sight-seeing at the more common times of day. There were always night tours, but many of those were oriented towards ghost-stories and local legends rather then architecture and more main-steam takes on history.
"The Kolomenskoe Museum-Reserve provides a rather pleasant view of the skyline and river day or night, and has a wealth of regional history. Much of the architecture you can see there was moved stone for stone from other regions and rebuilt in their original style at the reserve."
Another bite of his food and moment's thought.
"Or, if you wish to get out of the city for a bit, there are many villages that dot the local countryside. Some date back to the 11th Century or earlier. There is a legend that the village of Dyakovo hosts the Lost Library of Ivan the Terrible. Reputedly full of magic tomes and works of Arabic and Christian lore of exceeding rarity. Supposedly, the Library fell into the bowels of Hell and is guarded by the spirits of Ivan's last loyal soldiers. There are night tours that go to various sites that play host to such lore."
That story only held his interest because it had persisted for centuries, with some historians having traced it as recently as the 1980s before all inquires were seemingly dropped. The idea of that library was intriguing to him simply for what knowledge and history was housed within, but truthfully, it seemed unlikely such a thing truly existed, else someone would have found it by now.
His Wallet buzzed silently in his pocket, and he smiled apologetically once more as he plucked it free to see what it had to say. A different on-going case; The Butcher, a serial rapist/murderer who had been plaguing Moscow for the past few months with at least ten known victims already.
The message contained a detailed autopsy of the latest victim, and he chose not to peruse it at the moment. The others had been...disturbing...to say the least. His expression darkened momentarily; there could be no denying that he wanted the culprit off the streets. He'd already lost one certifiable sicko, and had no interest in a second slipping through his fingers. But, he had faith in the detectives working the case; he was simply overseeing from a distance, ready to cut any red tape they ran into to assure they could continue to progress as quickly as possible.
The Wallet was tucked away again and he shook his head before taking a sip of wine to dispel the ill taste the case had left in his throat. "I don't mean to sound like a tour guide. There was a group hosting a fake night tour company. They would take online bookings and payments in advance for a tour that didn't exist. Learned a thing or two about the industry while we were looking into it."
He recognized the neighborhood she lived in by name and nodded in approval, impressed by the location. "Quite close to the Kremlin. You are lucky to have found so convenient a place. Near an hour commute by metro for myself. But I rather enjoy it. All sorts of interesting people to be met, if you can stand the crowds."