so...let the Russian adventure begin! This was out first sight, loverly eh? Might I attract your attention to the lower left-hand 'arch'...what do you see?
YES! It's RED SQUARE! Was so surreal being there after seeing pix my whole life...(interestingly enough, not as big as the pix always showed...maybe it was a propaganda thing :)
And what is at the Red Square other than the Kremlin and Lenin?....only my favorite building when I was 5-years old - ST. BASIL'S!
'Happy, Happy! Joy, Joy!'
Here I be with my St. Basil's...not my favorite building now (I must've been attracted to the colors when I was a kid), but still cool to see nonetheless :)
Crossing over the Moscow river we can see in the distance Lomonosov State University - one of Stalin's 'Seven Sister' legacies to Moscow...
Making our way through G.U.M. (built late 1800's, but served as THE store during Soviet times)....
Right beside GUM we decided to eat. I had tried a Ukrainian Borscht before, but it had meat, potatoes, etc...it was more like stew....this was my first Russian Borscht.
Verdict: DELICIOUS!
Seriously, I didn't realize how wonderful a red beet soup can be!
Walking out to Red Square once again. Heavenly Father blessed us (unbeknownst to us) with a freak rainstorm as we got to the airport that day. In other words, said rain 'cleaned' the air, etc. The following days' smog/smoke would make us more grateful for the first night we had in Moscow ;)
Right beside St. Basil's you can see the moon - all red! Hmm.....
GUM all lit up in its capitalist glory ;)
On the other side you have Lenin's tomb and the 'red' walls of the Kremlin....
Interesting juxtaposition....
But together, what a sight!!
Goodbye Resurrection Gate and Red Square! Seeing you = dream come true!
This red building is the State Historical building, and then on the left are more towers of the Kremlin....
It was quite warm...in the 80's (nothing to compare to what it would get), so we drank our bottled water here in the Manege Park...
Given my affinity for maps I was naturally drawn to this.....
And to top off the evening, a ballet at the Bolshoi! In my dreams!
I still can't believe they were doing reconstruction work on it, grrr....
No shows for us :(
So the next day we decided we'd pay Lenin a visit. Off to the right, through the smoke (forest fires), you can see Lenin's tomb...
Went in there, VERY dark, VERY cold (somewhat refreshing) and in the end, I say it is NOT Lenin (some say it is, others say it's not, me says no)...
This is Kazan Church...the Soviets tore it down, but now they have rebuilt it....
Resurrection Gate again....
One of the towers of the Kremlin with an 'Unknown Soldier' memorial (however, there was another memorial nearby that said 1941-1945...so I don't know if this was to the dead of WWII only...oh if I only I spoke Russian....hmm...that's an idea ;)
Here is the tower/entrance to the Kremlin. I was reading through Wikipedia, but instead of adding in what they said, please feel free to read what they said under 'Kremlin'. Essentially 'Kremlin' is a walled fortress and there are several Kremlins throughout Russia....
This is the Arsenal...where apparently the Russian 'Defense Department' is....no tourists allowed! :)
Made in 1586 the 'Tsar's Canon' is one of the largest canons ever made...
This was one of the biggest surprises about the Kremlin....it wasn't just a walled fortress, but it has like FIVE CATHEDRALS! Kind of crazee and I can't believev I never knew this....
This is the Cathedral of the Dormition built in 1479...
Then we have the Church of the Twelve Apostles with the Patriach's apartments....
Cathedral of the Annunciation built in 1489....
Then we have Ivan the Great Bell Tower with Assumption Belfry....
I just think it's funny that I didn't know that a big part of the Kremlin isn't just government, etc., it was a HUGE Cathedral-complex....
Around the corner from the Bell Tower you have the Tsar's Bell. Cast in 1735 it is the biggest bell in the world..."While the bell was cooling off in its casting pit, a great fire began in the Kremlin in May 1737 and water thrown on the bell in attempt to douse the flames caused a chunk weighing over 11 tons to crack and break off. The bell lay in the great pit on Ivanovskaya Square for almost a hundred years until 1836, when the French architect Auguste Montferrand raised it and place it on a granite pedestal, next to its broken section." And there you have it..."
View overlooking the 'Secret Gardens' and the Moscow river....
Daddee-o lookin mahvelous in front of the Grand Kremlin Palace....
See you evil, capitalist pigs! The Soviets just wanted to bring the world peace....that's all.... :)
Looking back at the Bell Tower....look how big that bell is!
They had a really nice garden up top by the cathedrals....we sat and enjoyed a drink, twas needed cuz of the heat....
Goodbye Kremlin! You were great!
Moving right along we come across Cathedral Christ the Savior. It is and was, the tallest cathedral in the Orthodox world. It was built in 1860, but Stalin blew it up! The area was made into a swimming pool during Soviet times and now they have rebuilt it....
Here I be....only a few minutes later I will be denied entry due to my immodest dress aka shorts!
Quite impressive!
Along the bottom they have all of these bronze figures...
I thought it was interesting to find some on the side of the cathedral....waiting their chance to go inside...
Leaving the cathedral, we cross the Moscow river and look out towards the Kremlin....
WOWZUHS! SO impressive!
Here is a memorial to Peter the Great and the 300th anniversary of the founding of the Russian navy....
:)
the Kremlin once again....how did I miss all those cathedrals when I looked at pix of the Kremlin growing up? Hmm....
So we were doing the 'Mighty Tourist' aka seeing all we could in 1.5 days in Moscow...now it was time to leave and head north to St. Petersburg....but first of course we needed to grab a precious Matrushka doll (Russian doll) ;) With Matrushka in hand we went into the world-famous Moscow Metro in a frantic dash towards the train station....
Here are some figures in the 'Revolution Square' Metro stop....
This guy seriously looked like Lenin....
And this must be for good luck, but we noticed people 'touching' the dog's nose and other parts of the statues when they'd get on to their subway trains....must be for good luck...I don't know...
The rest of the station....
The station was pretty....a lot nicer than London and Berlin's subways for sure!
We checked out of our hotel and met an 'angel' of a woman who said 'da' and pointed in a direction when I said 'Prastitje. Leningradsky vokzal', which in Aaronrussky means 'excuse me. Leningrad train station?' Anyway...we barely made it and I was glad....on to St. Petersburg, what do ya say?
