Moscow

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After 5 days on the train we were really ready to get flying into Moscow, however the maximum -15c weather has really inhibited what we have been able to do. Its unbelievably cold I have resorted to double layers of thermals and I've bought a huge russian fur hat! Clare has the same, well she looks like a garden gnome at the mo!

We have been around the main sites, St. Basil's Cathedral, Red Square ,Lenin's Mausoleum (He is tiny must be 5"5' very little man), the Kremlin. All are stunning esp Stalin's skyscrapers (The big guy built them cos he was jealous of the US ones but built them in a Russian style very cool). But it has been that cold that we have had to scoot through them, so its kind of turned us into tour bus tourists, we haven't got the feel for the place as well as we could so we heading to warmer climates in ST.Petersburg tomorrow (well it is -10 there today!)

We have only been accosted by the police once, they hang around everywhere to check you visa is registered etc and the slightest mistake means you get fined big time, so we have been lucky on that side though we have been changing the sides of the road we walk on to avoid them. Other than that we have had no hassle.

Despite the artic cold russia so far has been magic, it defo has va va voom, we have been cruising around the magnificent metro (Its awesome huge chandeliers, soviet murals of happy workers, brilliant 50's architecture) a tram comes every two minutes, its great for people watching too. At one of them there are statues of everyday people and everyone who walks past one of a dog and a man rubs the nose of the dog for a few seconds, not a pat but a full on rub? We hung around and watched for a few minutes its was very strange, maybe its for luck who knows??!

Russians are so stern faced, they are very scary, but if you open a door for them or be polite they change and give a brief smile,it feels very genuine.They defo have a real grace about them. That said on the clothes front maybe not so! what they have on for winter is great, massive fur coats and they all wear those hats I thought were a joke! Who knows how many poor animals have died to keep Russia warm.

We have been swotting up on russian on the trans siberian and we can both read the cryllic alphabet and say a few words in russian so hopefully we will be able to pop out a conversation in russian before we leave so it has felt nicer than china on that front.Though we keep talking spanish when we're thinking russian?

We have accidentally book into third class for our over night train to St.Petersburg (Russian not so good in that situation!) , a 54 bed dorm in a train carriage at night with drunk russians could be carnage but we will see should be an experience , not very private banking though! But I will tell all when we hit there.

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Photos

Big hat and Lee
Peter the Great monument

The Metro
This is the dog everyone touched (not Clare obviously!)