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Published: June 26th 2017
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Geo: 55.75, 37.62
Friday was a rest day between the Congress and the start of the championships. Fletcher and I decided to revisit the Pushkin Museum which we had first seen in 1980. We remembered the great collection of Impressionist paintings and other great art that it contained.
We set out on the Metro and got off at Arbatskaya to retrace my steps of the other day. We eventually found the park which we saw was named after Gogol and walked down to the street. Following the signs we came to the impressive building that id the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts. It is a neo-classical building and something to see in its own right.
Inside we found that it was hosting a special exhibition of Pre-Raphaelite paintings. This was terrific with most of the iconic paintings of this group included. We saw Ophelia, beautiful Burn stained glass windows and William Morris Tapestries, as well as works based on Shakesperean scenes by Rossetti, Maddox Brown, Holman Hunt and Millais. A feast for the eyes!!
We then went to the ground floor to find the gold from Troy which Schliemann had removed and taken to Germany from whence it was stolen by the Soviet army
at the end of WW2. This was disappointing as several of the artefacts were missing and the trinkets that were left were small and uninspiring. On reading the guide book we discovered that the !9th and 20th century paintings had been moved to a gallery next door. So after a brief look at some of the 16th and 17th Century French art we found our way there.
The second gallery with the inspiring title of Gallery of 19th and 20th Century European Art was amazing. Rooms full of Impressionists, Post-Impressionists, Fauves and Cubists covered the whole gamut of this time.There was one room of just Monet, another of Matisse and another of Picasso. Add to that the Degas, Renoir, Gaugain, Van Gogh etc etc and it was a feast for the senses. Well worth visiting.
By this time it was nearly 2pm so we walked towards the Kremlin in a quest for food and drink. Just near the gates was the underground shopping mall I visited two days ago. This had a Szabo store which served slices of pizza etc. We settled for a large slice each washed down by local beer. Not bad. It was very hot outside but we then
walked to Red Square so Fletcher could feel he was really in Moscow and then into the GUM. A stop at one of the cafes in there which overlooks the square for another beer (it was very thirsty work) Led to some great people watching albeit it did cost $30 for the two.
That night we had a nice meal at the I Love Beef restaurant at the hotel which was less expensive than the others. I had a Russian rabbit dish which was fantastic while Feltcher opted for fish and chips. No wine as prices are astronomical but we are getting the taste for the local beer!. A quiet night to prepare for the busyness of the next week.
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