Geo: 55.7497, 37.6135We started the day with an exclusive, pre-opening visit to the Kremlin museums, followed by viewing several of the churches and palaces in the 28 hectare, triangular-shaped complex. After another fine lunch at the National Hotel we spent most of the afternoon (too long) at the Museum of Cosmonautics.What a shame that no photos were allowed inside any of the Kremlin buildings. Our first stop at the so-called Armoury Chamber was truly awesome. The vast museum had only a small section of military regalia, but included an AMAZING collection of garments, crowns and royal accoutrements, religious items, ten Faberge Imperial Eggs, etc. Excepting maybe in the Vienna Museum of Fine Art, these were the most wonderful exhibits we have seen. For example, on display was a distinctive, richly decorated 13th century church robe in ... read more

Geo: 55.9671, 37.4155Bit stressful getting to Moscow. The train from Florence to Bologna was delayed, and then the taxi line to get to the Bologna airport was huge. Robyn's initiative got us on to a direct bus to the airport and we ended up with time to spare. The security check took about 3min, maybe the fastest we've encountered!Our gamble in booking an aisle and a window seat worked, and we scored a vacant middle seat on our 3 hr flight. We enjoyed good food and great South African wines on our Aeroflot 737-800 flight. Our friendly flight attendants were named Anastasia, Svetlana and Olga. Welcome to Russia!It was an unimpressive 60 min drive in from the airport, but as we got closer to the city centre the streetscape changed markedly.... read more

Geo: 44.4944, 11.3492... read more

Geo: 43.7755, 11.2538On Monday we walked around the city and visited the Boboli Gardens behind the Pitti Palace. The gardens weren't so great - large areas of lawns and discrete areas bordered by hedges, with paths throughout. The city views at the highest point were partly obscured by trees.Thanks Whitehouse's for the suggestion: in the evening we went to a performance of selected arias from Italian operas.Tuesday was a soft day where we explored the below-ground walkways near the railway station. Then walked around the Duomo and took some pics.... read more

Geo: 43.4675, 11.0426... read more