Second day

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I awoke and saw it was still dark out so was not in a hurry to get up but did anyways since I thought I would get online while nobody was using the computer. I am glad I did because it was 7:30am. It did not become full daylight there until 9:30am. I quickly showered and dressed and then set out to explore again. I stopped at the Mcdonalds nearby for breakfast. I do not like to do that usually, but it is a fast and convenient eating option. After breakfast, I rode the metro from Tretyakovskaya to Oktyabrskaya and then walked down to Gorky Park. I walked inside all over the park for well over an hour. It was warmer today and there was a light snowfall so it was very peaceful. I really enjoyed my walk in the park.

It was awesome to see the Buran spacecraft on display next to the iced over Moskva River. Later, I went back to the hostel by way of the metro. I was just there quickly and then left again to explore. I walked to the nearby Tretyakov Gallery. My camera was starting to act up on me. It would show batteries drained when in fact they were new. I later found out that this happens when it is very cold. I was so upset, but at least I had some good photos so far. I also had my ipod to shoot with, even though the quality was lower. From the Gallery, I walked back down to Red Square. Did some more sightseeing and was still sad to see the Kremlin gates closed. I wanted to try pelmeni since my wife makes it at home often. I had seen a place in GUM the day before, that had it, so I went there. It was called Stolovaya 57, and their pelmeni was fantastic!!!!

After lunch, I walked down to see the Bolshoi Theater and then took the metro to Smolenskaya, in order to get my Hard Rock Cafe visit. I was there less than 5 minutes just to buy a logo pin. While I was there I also checked out a good portion of Arbat Street. In the late afternoon, I went back to Red Square by metro and just hung out until after dark again. My feet were hurting now, lol, so I was not walking back to the hostel tonight! I rode the metro to Novokuznetskaya and ducked into the hostel quickly. I went back out and had dinner at the Dve Palochki again. They have great food and service! At 10pm or so I walked around the neighborhood one last time before going back to the hostel to sleep. This was it for me, as the next morning I would depart Russia. I had everything packed up and was ready to get up and go in the morning.

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