Sophia and Irene led us, and we went to the aquarium, but neither wanted to go in right away. Next to the aquarium was the entrance to an animatrix theater of some sorts. They both wanted to enter and once again, Irene's father paid for the tickets before I could figure out what it was and where to pay.
That did not start until 1:00, and so we had time to kill. Duman Center was nearly empty; Irene's father said that on weekends it is packed. We went to an activity that Sophia had seen earlier and wanted to try: Jump on a trampoline, but while attached to bungee-like cords. You had to be weighed first. Irene went first, as Sophia suddenly became scared. The guy working the thing turned something on, and Irene was able to jump over 7 meters. Next it was Sophia's turn, and she was almost too scared to go. She asked to get off early. However, she has good memories of it and will probably want to do it again next time!
After that we found some arcade-type games (such as you can find in Chuck E. Cheese). The girls raced each other in a car race game, threw some basketballs, whacked moles, gave up on a dance-step game, and played air hockey. The car race game was funny--I was amazed at how much better Sophia was than Irene. Which does not mean that Sophia was good, she was awful. But Irene spent most of the time running her car into a wall and turning the car so that she was facing the wrong way. Her parents did their best to help her turn the car around, but in the end, her car barely moved from the starting point before the time was up.
Likewise, shooting baskets was funny. Sophia and Irene completely missed the hoop; at times the ball didn't land anywhere near the hoop or in the netted-in area, and we were lucky that there were no other kids in the area. Irene's parents both tried and missed their shots. I didn't bother trying. I knew I wouldn't make it, and I let them have their fun.
Air hockey was better. Except, as the time was running out, Irene instinctively reached out and grabbed the puck before it went into her goal. Sophia was so upset that she didn't pay attention as Irene shot the puck to Sophia's side, thus making a final goal before the time went out. Sophia was not happy that she had lost due to "cheating".
Then it was time for the animatrix exhibit. I was a bit curious about what it was. Irene's parents said they would wait for us in the cafe, and we went inside. Irene held my hand and I had a feeling it was supposed to be scary.
At first, we just waited in the entrance area. It was decked out like some underground cavern in an Indiana Jones movie. There were ancient-looking statues engraved on the walls, dinosaur bones hidden on the ceiling. Behind a rope was an area made to look like a jungle, complete with real water in a river and a swaying bridge.
A woman wearing an expedition-type outfit called us over to a large stone face and spoke to us in Russian. The children said something and the face's eyes opened and glowed, then the face moved aside, revealing a hidden passageway.
Irene clutched my hand and we went inside.
Inside the dark passageway was a large, moving dinosaur, roaring at us. We stayed with our group and the guide, and Irene translated some of what the guide was saying for us. It was made to seem like we were walking through underground tunnels, stumbling upon some monster or other--dinosaurs, crocodiles, over-sized frogs that sang, "You've got to move it, move it!" (That was rather funny.) One man was there to take pictures of people (for money, of course). Another man, dressed in some sort of "primitive" outfit (grass skirt, painted face) hid in corners with a stick from which dangled grass or string. He would tickle your head when you weren't looking, adding to the suspense and fear I guess. I was quite surprised the first few times this happened to me, as I didn't see him and I would look around, wondering what I had walked under and seeing nothing.
We passed by an old-fashioned one-man airplane that had "crashed" above us; a skeleton was hanging out of it. Nearby was a lean-to and old fire-pit; there also was a skeleton here.
Finally we came into a larger area, made to look like we were no longer underground. Water was running and we were in a jungle of sorts. We crossed a bridge that did not sway although it was designed to look like it should, and then we exited to the room we had started in.
It was an interesting exhibit, definitely designed for children. Sophia wasn't scared, but she enjoyed it.
Then we met up with Irene's parents at the cafe and spent some time trying to figure out if they could do a plain cheese pizza. They sold pizza, but trying to get plain cheese was difficult--especially considering that Irene's father spoke far less Russian than me, yet tried to explain what he wanted in Russian. For a while, I thought that we'd end up with several pizzas, as he kept telling them "odin bolshoi pizza" or "odin malenki" or whatnot, and I was surprised that the workers weren't confused.
The plain cheese pizza had tomato slices on it, which I ate. Irene got some sort of wrap that she didn't like and she insisted on having a pizza like Sophia's, which she eventually got. I'm glad to see that someone else is a picky eater.
Next we went to the "5-Dimensional Theater" and once again Irene's father paid and her parents waited while we visited. The movie was about sharks, and we put on 3-D glasses so that it appeared as if the sharks and other marine animals were coming right at us. To add to the experience, our seats moved, even jerked, so we felt like we were really in submarines. Then we came out of the water and --splash!--we dove back in and were actually sprayed with water. It was a fun experience, but who really wants to get wet when it's below 0 (Celsius) outside? The heating system at Duman is not spectacular, and we were rather cold without our winter coats (that we had checked).
Then it was time for Irene's father to return to work. Sophia wanted to stay; Irene wanted to be with Sophia. We finally decided that Sophia and I would return to Irene's apartment, so that they could play. I was quite pleased that they were so eager to be together.
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