Moscow Here We Come!

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Very tired after all the walking yesterday. I am still blown away by the activity and nightlife along Nevsky Prospekt near the rail station. This is the area to stay when visiting Moscow. Anyways - another day another city. We pretty much packed before going to breakfast. Again - just settled for some cereal and toast and watery scrambled eggs. Still not turned on by all the other pickled stuff and the weird looking cheese and cold cuts.

We took our bags down to the lobby where our transfer assistant was waiting for us. He wanted to know why we were going so early as our train was not until 11.40am. I replied that we were just cautious - not knowing traffic etc etc. Our driver also knew we were too early and, unannounced - took us on a little sightseeing tour on the way to the station!! On arrival - he went around to the back of the station - where he wound his way through some construction sites finally stopping near an entrance to a platform. It's an area I stumbled upon last night while trying to find the station!! Our assistant and driver then helped us with the luggage to a waiting/shopping hall - where there were quite a few other people waiting for trains to depart or perhaps to arrive. I sat Kathie down in a seat while I went looking for the "Club Lounge". It was part of the deal of the business-class tickets we were holding and only took me a few minutes to find it. Weird - as one had to take about 8 steps down from entry-door level to the level of the lounge - which is awkward if you have luggage. The counter assistance confirmed to me we were indeed eligible to use the lounge - so back to Kathie and grabbed the luggage and proceeded back to the lounge. I Guess my idea of a lounge and the Russian Rail version of a lounge are quite different. While there was comfortable seating and a couple of TV screens - that was about it. Drinks? Yes - go over to the refrigerated cabinet, put some rubles in the slot - and pick your drink. No hot drinks. No "free drinks" like a lot of lounges usually have. Settled for a couple of cups of cold water from a nearby dispenser. So much for the lounge. It wasn't long before we were motioned to go to the platform. We didn't realise there would be more security screen before actually getting on to the platform - and we got a little nervous because by now that waiting hall was packed. So many people going home for New Year.!!!

Clearing the security we were right at the platform- with a sleek looking piece of equipment welcoming us. This train was as modern as any of the fast trains I have seen in Europe. And certainly better than any I have seen in Australia!!! (why are we so behind with things like this???) With the help of some flight attendant-looking staff, we found our coach. It was actually the second one from the end of the train. The attendant at the entry to the carriage took our tickets and scanned them, then took our passports and punched in some details. We were lucky enough to get the last few spots of luggage space before finding our seats. A window and an aisle. Leather seats that recline. Tray tables that folded down. Internet connection and earplug points. Power sockets. Wow - this was like luxury. I peeped into the first carriage to see the difference. It was first class - and was only 3 seats across unlike ours which was 4 seats across. The seats even looked a little more luxurious. But at almost twice the price of the business class - I was happy with what we had. It wasn't long before all seats were filled and we were advise the train would be departing soon. An attendant came around and gave us headphones - as well as a menu from which to choose out lunch. There was a choice of 3 meals - each with a salad, main and dessert. This is service.!! Also found out that by getting on to the Russian Rail website - we could put in the last 4 digits of our passport and seat number - we could get free internet all the way to Moscow.!!

Moscow is a big city - and the start of the journey was a little slow as the train snaked it's way through industrial and residential areas - but after about 20 minutes - the overhead TV screen showed we had increased speed up to 180kph. It wasn't long before we were speeding through snow-clad forests and small communities - and the speed getting to over 300kph. The meal service was preceded by a drink of choice - also part of the package. We chose separate selections so we could share - and were not disappointed with the offering. By the time we had finished the meal - we were well into the journey - almost at the halfway point - and passing through areas of patchy forest and open plains dotted with small communities of wooden hut. We wondered how these people survived as there was little evidence of industry to provide jobs and money.

It wasn't long before we started seeing evidence of suburban Moscow. Factories, housing developments, cars, truck,s people. The train slowed to almost a crawl as we approached the Leningradsky station - the oldest of Moscow's nine rail stations. Not sure why the name was not changed - as the did away with Leningrad and renamed the city St. Petersburg. It was quite a walk along the station - maybe 150m - before we met our transfer assistant. He took us outside where we eventually linked up with our driver. Another15 minutes and we were at our hotel - the Park Inn by Radisson. The front arrival/lobby/reception area was quite "compressed" - which concerned me a little. Then - entering our room - we were really shocked to find it very small - with hardly any room for 2 suitcases on the floor. It was topped off with a very small bathroom. I went down to reception to see if we could get a better room - only to be told that as it was New Year's Eve - the hotel was booked out and no chance to change rooms. . Damn!!! While Kathie did some rearranging in the room - I took a quick walk from our hotel along a very wide street - looking for a supermarket or such to get some supplies as I was sure everything would be closed on 01 Jan.

The first thing I noticed exiting the hotel - is how clean the street was. Not a piece of litter, no cigarette butts, nothing. I walked for about a kilometer along the street. Still no litter or cigarette butts. I did notice that the drainpipes in Moscow were the same size and as prevalent as those in St. Petersburg. And there were very few people on the street and even fewer vehicles. Strange. I found a rather large supermarket where I got some snacks and drinks for the room. Not as modern as some of the supermarkets here - but had all the food and fancy self-service check-out machines. I got back to the hotel and we had a little rest before our evening plan of trying to visit Red Square.

I did not realise how close our hotel was to the Kremlin. Literally only 20 minutes to get to the perimeter. But is such a huge area - it took us another 10 minutes to get to the entrance to Red Square. Now - as we got to the Kremlin - we saw police. Lots of police. Lots and lots of police. They were manning security checkpoints and directing foot traffic heading in to the Red Square area, Obviously we weren't the only ones heading there. The whole central area of the Kremlin, Red Square, the Bolshoi theatre area was populated with thousands of police. Armed and ready for anything. What surprised us is that again we still did not see litter or cigarettes butts. We saw no nangs or groups of teenagers. We saw no drunks, no-one drinking publicly. I am not sure what hold the police have on the population - but it works. Everything was orderly, everything moved. There must have been several hundred thousand people in the city centre. Red Square was blocked of and I Was disappointed I could not show it to Kathie. We wandered through Christmas Markets, past food and drink stalls, past restaurants and coffee shops and finally arrived at the G.U.M shopping gallery. I remembered it well from my visit 38 years ago - but it certainly did not have this modern day "glitziness". Oh what a store!!! If you think the QVB in Sydney is an amazing gallery - then the G.U.M. is about 10 times bigger - with 3 long galleries of 3 levels each. And such unbelievable Christmas decorations. And such high-end stores and boutiques. And Christmas lights - both inside and outside. In fact - the whole of the city centre was lit up with more Christmas lights than we have ever seen. We spent around an hour looking through parts of the galleries.

Around 8.00pm the G.U.M. closed for the evening. When I asked a shop worker if there was ny chance to get into Red Square - he informed me there was an area where we might be able to see in to it - but the square was closed because of a concert. We found ourselves outside in a small street that had 2 security check-points. We saw lines of people flashing something to police - and being allowed to enter. We could also hear music and singers - and what appeared to be a ginormous stage set up in Red Square. Wow - it would be nice to get tin to that concert - but we found that it was invite only and you did need an invitation. After 45 minutes of chatting and pleading with police and the invitation-takers - I managed to beg "we have come all the way from Australia - can we please get an invite??" Shortly after - we were standing 30-40 deep in front of the music stage. For the next 2 hours we enjoyed the sounds of some of Russia's top music starts. The staging was amazing. So much going on. Such beautiful stage settings, such thumping music. Wow - what a night.!!! At 10.30pm the concert finished and we were ushered out of Red Square to join the throngs of others wanting to celebrate in the city centre.Then we found out that there would be fireworks display from inside the Kremlin - and that the bridge over the river would provide the best viewing platform. We made it to the bridge - but found that thousands of other onlookers had the same idea - so we went down to the river bank where no so many people were waiting for the fireworks. Well - midnight cam and the fireworks started. We were disappointed with the display as it only went for about 8 minutes and was a pretty "ordinary". Still - the concert was the highlight of our evening - so we walked back to the hotel feeling luck and satisfied.

As it was almost impossible to get into any restaurants in the Kremlin area to eat prior to "celebrations" - we were hungry and resigned to the fact it would be supermarket snacks. However - on entering the hotel - we found the restaurant was still open and serving. Food and vodka. Lots of vodka. We ended up having borscht (for Kathie) and a club sandwich and fries for me - and a couple of nice cold beers. What a way to end 2017 and start 2018. Back in the USSR!!!!!

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Photos

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Pre-lunch drinks on the Sapsan Fast Train

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Lunch on the Sapsan

Christmas Markets and GUM shopping gallery

stbasils
St. Basils Cathedral Red Square

The Kremlin and St. Basil's

The GUM and Kremlin concert go-ers