Onto Red Square and Moscow!

---

THURSDAY 17 SEPTEMBER 2009 - RUSSIA

Long bus day today as we had to drive from Novgorod into Moscow. That meant it was an early start- with breakfast at 6:45am and on the bus at 7:10am. Most people slept for the first few hours on the bus which is pretty normal - with our first stop being at around 9:30am for coffee and toilets. Back onto the bus for another few hours until midday when we stopped at basically a roadside café/diner. It was raining so they had decided to feed us in there rather than sit outside in the rain and eat. However, lunch ended up being longer and slightly more complicated than I think they expected - with it being a cafeteria-style, we each collected pre-designated foods (we were allowed a salad, a piece of bread, a main (could chose from five - I chosen chicken again) and a dessert (otherwise known as a chocolate bar). Quite a few people chose to order the dumplings - which meant that they had a considerable wait on their meals and we ended up spending the best part of an hour there. My chicken was dry and the rice and salad was tasteless.

Then it was back on the road again until our late afternoon arrival in Moscow. Since we had the local Russian guide with us we didn’t get lost. Again, the hotel was very nice and the check-in procedure took quite some time. Dinner was in the hotel restaurant and was dry chicken. After dinner it was a quick drink and some chatting in the hotel bar and then an early night.

FRIDAY 18 SEPTEMBER 2009 - RUSSIA AND MY 30th BIRTHDAY

Up early this morning so that I could check emails. Didn’t ring the folks though as in Russia the time difference is only six hours to Australia which meant that they were both at work. I had managed to keep my birthday very quiet from everyone on the tour as well, so only a few people said happy birthday (quietly!!) at breakfast - which was the usual Russian affair of cereal, porridge, eggs, stale bread and assorted veges and fruits.

After breakfast it was time for our driving tour of Moscow. It went for about two hours or so and past a lot of the attractions that are outside of the Red Square and Kremlin area which we would have had trouble getting to ourselves. So it went past Pushkin Square and Novodevichy Convent and Monastry; where people made wishes by writing them on the side of the tower, in line with Russian folk tales. This is the place where Peter the Great imprisoned his sister Sofia for her part in the Streltsy Rebellion.

We drove along the river for some distance and got to see the Kremlin and Red Square from a distance before making our way up towards the Moscow University and a look-out point over the city. Up on this hill they also have a large ski-jump where they do jumps even when it isn’t snowing - it was quite high - but we did manage to see some people go down it which was quite a nice surprise and perfect timing. We also drove past Victory Park and the Victory Monument before eventually being dropped off in front of Red Square. After being shown our meeting point for later that afternoon, we were given time to have a look around the area and grab some lunch.

Red Square is the centre of Russia and the thing that most people picture when they think of Russia. It is surrounded by St Basil’s Cathedral, the State History Museum and Lenin’s Mausoleum and an upmarket shopping centre called GUM.

After getting some obligatory photos, I decided to head into St Basil’s Cathedral for a look around. It is said that after finishing the cathedral, Ivan the Great blinded his architects to stop them ever making something comparable again. While there were some interesting medieval paintings, the church itself has been turned into a tourist trap and I didn’t find it nearly as interesting as Church of the Spiller Blood in St Petersburg.

From St Basil’s it was a wander through the impressive shopping centre; predominantly as word had spread that they had free, clean toilets. Not only is the centre quite large; it also has all of the leading designer brands - glass roof, centrepiece fountains; a far cry from the images a lot of people remember of Russians lining up for rations. Then it was onto the food court for some food (cold piece of pizza) before we all met back for the walking tour of the Kremlim.

The Kremlin (which means Citadel in Russian) is essentially made up of several huge cathedrals and was built in the 1100s. Took quite a bit to get through security first though before passing beneath Trinity Gate Tower. We then spent the next hour or so wandering through the area and looking at the architecture of the cathedrals and buildings before entering one of the Orthodox Churches. Our tour also took us past the Tomb of the Lost Soldier and several other monuments.

After our Kremlin tour it was a little bit more free time (which was spent wandering and picking up some souvenirs at the tourist markets and browsing an English language bookshop) during which to grab some food before most of us headed to the Russian ballet. To get there we all got the Metro together which was an interesting experience - but since we had a local guide it was all quite easy and we didn’t actually have to direct ourselves. This is the lazy person’s travelling!!

The ballet was some distance away but we got there and found our seats before it started at about 7pm. The ballet was Swan Lake. I didn’t know what the story was and while the dancing was quite good and I was enjoying it, most of us had no idea what was actually happening, so we asked the local guide during intermission; which helped to understand the second part significantly.

The ballet finished at about 10pm and by the time we got back to the hotel it was 11pm or so and after a quick drink I headed straight to bed.

SATURDAY 19 SEPTEMBER 2009 - RUSSIA

Up bright and early this morning so that I could ring home while it was early afternoon. That done, I grabbed another average but included breakfast and then had time to spare before we all met in reception at about 9:30am or so. As usual, some people were running late and in the end we left a few people behind that were obviously still in bed.

Walked down to the Metro for our ‘Metro tour’ which consisted of literally a tour of some of the Metro stations that have been decorated by various countries. Some have chandeliers, some have statues, paintings, all sorts of art. I think in the end we saw five stations which was more than enough, before they dropped us into the Red Square area. To be honest, I am not sure most of us cared too much about art on the Metro in Russia!! Interestingly though, their Metro system wasn’t built until the 1940s or so.

From there a group of us headed to Lenin’s Mausoleum where we lined up for quite some time for a quick walk past the very dark crypt where Lenin lies in red velvet. It was slightly morbid, but no more so than Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam. Silence throughout the single line filing around the body was required, and outside when we came out of the crypt we walked past where some of the other ‘greats’ are buried - Stalin, etc.

After collecting our cameras, it was time for another stroll around the area mostly to grab lunch since we didn’t have a lot of time until we had to meet back for the optional tour of the Royal Armoury. This is where there is a collection of treasures accumulated over centuries by the Russian government. It included dresses worn by historical greats, Faberge eggs, armoury, medieval weaponry, medieval carriages and all sorts of interesting things. The guided tour went for two hours and I couldn’t concentrate for that amount of time and wanted to wander around on my own so I basically did - there were English explanations scattered all over the place, and I would occasionally wander back to the group to see if there was anything more interesting happening.

After that tour finished though we had about 45 minutes of free time until we all met for a very early dinner at a Russian restaurant. This meal was one of the better Russian meals we have had so far - with a salad, soup, and for mains it was a beef dish - but the beef was splendidly cooked and not at all rubbery.

From dinner (which finished at about 6pm that’s how early it was) we all went back to the Metro to head onto the Russian Circus which was near where we had seen the ballet the evening before. Security again was quite tight and some of us only made it through in time to see our door closing and had to find our way into our seats the hard way; and in the dark.

The circus itself was amazing - although I don’t agree with the use of animals in it. It was the opening night for a new performance apparently so the show went for about three hours or so. There were clowns and dogs, horses, camels, bears, lions, tigers, dancers, performers of all sorts, a kangaroo, all sorts of animals. Heaps of colours and music and dancing. Was a great show all around. It finished at around 10pm or so and we made it back to the hotel sometime after 11pm. Since some of the group that we had picked up in St Petersburg were leaving us the next day, a lot of us met in the foyer for a drink. In the end, about 11 of us ended up going out to a nightclub where I had a few celebratory birthday drinks before getting a cab home in the early hours of the morning.

SUNDAY 20 SEPTEMBER 2009, RUSSIA

Late start this morning which was good after the late night the night before. Left the hotel at 10am and spent most of the day asleep on the bus. There were a few service stops, including stopping for lunch (sandwiches) somewhere along the way before we eventually arrived at our hotel in Velike Luki. Had an hour or two before dinner so I had a chance to go to the supermarket to buy some waterand then it was dinner time, which tonight was a chicken and cheese thing which I didn’t like at all and barely ended up eating. Went for a walk around the town; which was very pretty, before a relatively early night.

---