Advertisement
22 June
Another exciting day in Moscow, met by Luba at the hotel and visited the Kremlin, another eye opener, we had expected the Kremlin to be some sort of grey austere place, official KGB style, totally wrong! Kremlin just means fortress, and it was a large walled place with beautiful buildings and churches. We spent some time in the Armoury - a museum full of treasures, apparently this huge collection was only part of the royal treasure, when the last Tsar fell, a lot were hidden and have never been found to date. Over the years the Royal family of Russia and their empire had gathered up priceless artefacts from all over the world, a lot of them gifts from other empires. The Empress Elizabeth apparently liked carriages, there was a large room full of them! She also liked dresses, she had about 18,000 and never wore the same one twice. Mind boggling collection. 22 June is a special day of commemoration and mourning in Russia, the day the Nazis invaded. We almost saw Putin today, he was laying wreaths at the tomb of the unknown soldier at the a Kremlin, heaps of official cars everywhere, quite exciting! Interesting
to hear from our guides about rulers like Peter the Great and Catherine the Great, who were revered by their people. Putin also seems to be very popular, patriotism is strong here. Luba took us on a tour of the best Metro stations next, apparently the leaders at the time decided it would be good for people to have beautiful stations to brighten up their daily lives, so a lot of them look like palaces! And the trains seem to run very efficiently too, so frequent, every minute in peak time. Headed for a sightseeing break time to lunch and a market with the "young ones". Got the traditional russian doll souvenirs, then home for a nap. In the evening we took a boat on the river, it was a lovely trip and coming back it was dusk so buildings and bridges were lit up. Does't get dark till about 10:30 here, found a Georgian restaurant for a late dinner - food is closest to Greek or Turkish, very yummy. Surprised about the meat in Russia which was generally good, especially the lamb, as when Mum and Dad visited in the late 70s, they found it quite tough.
23
June Our last day in Moscow, and just Joan, Steve and ourselves with Luba today, the young ones went off to St Petersburg last night. We visited the Wooden Palace, which is a replica of the original one built with no nails or bolts. Amazing exterior and lavish inside, like all of the palaces there - they use a lot of gold and no expense spared on decoration or furnishings, although this was not as ornate as the Winter and Summer Palaces in St P. The grounds were really nice and we took a walk through the woodlands to the park on the other side of the estate. Quite relaxing with just a small group. Back in the city, took a stroll around the outside of the Kremlin, where there is a beautiful garden and also a shopping mall with fountains, statues and water running along the side. Moscow continues to surprise! Weather has been hot here, so took a short nap on the grass before heading on to visit the stunnin Church of Christ the Saviour. Not sure whether Blu was sad or relieved that he wasn't allowed in as he was wearing shorts! Off to St Petersburg on
the night train, we had time for a quick visit to the 33rd floor of a nearby hotel before pick up time 10:30. We are impressed with Go Russia, their organisation was faultless. Train was comfortable but carriages very cosy, we shared with 2 Russian men, first time I have slept with 3 men in one night LOL. Was fine, didn't speak English, and we were in bed before they arrived. All part of the experience!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.097s; Tpl: 0.034s; cc: 7; qc: 24; dbt: 0.053s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb