Moscow Day 2

This is Red Square below! My only mental images of this is tanks and soldiers. Today it is full of tourists. (and smoke, ugh). The smallish building in the forefront is Lenin's tomb. We hope to visit it this morning, as it was closed yesterday.

Kremlin means fortress. Most every city in Russia has a Kremlin wall, which surrounds the oldest part of the city, where the nobility and soldiers lived. Today, only the Kremlin guards live inside the Kremlin walls. There are government office buildings and the buildings where official state affairs are held, but the Duma (congress) is housed in a building outside. The major museum of the history of Russia are in the Kremlin. Yesterday we saw the Armory which has a great collection of artifacts of the pre-Soviet history of Russia, including coronation gowns of Catherine the Great and clothing of Peter the Great. We also saw an amazing collection of diamonds.

St. Basil's cathedral is in Red Square. It is perhaps one of the most familiar icons of Moscow. It is a beautiful building, and houses eleven 'churches' inside. Some are tiny, but in theory, eleven separate services could go on at the same time.

We had lunch in a cafeteria inside the GUM shopping mall. This is a huge mall that was built around 1900. Six stories high, with 3 linked sections. It is a beautiful building, and today is filled with all the stores we see throughout the world.

In the afternoon we visited Old Arbat, which is the oldest street in Moscow, Today it is a walking mall, full of stores and street vendors, mostly for tourists and youth. Even stopped at Starbucks. But there is some great old architecture, as there is throughout the city.

We then went on a tour of the Metro. Odd, but apparently a standard part of most tours. Actually, the metro stations are quite beautiful, each with its own decorative them. One, build in 1946 is full of bronze statues of works and soldiers. Several of the statues have dogs in them, and it is considered lucky to rub the dog's nose. I saw a dozen people do this in the short time we were there. The noses are polished golden with the touching. One station has stained glass throughout. That is where this picture is from.

Last night we saw the Russian National Ballet performance of Swan Lake. It was stunning. The young woman danced Odette was brilliant. One interesting note. Air conditioning is rare in Moscow. Hotel rooms and some restaurants have it. Most homes do not. Nor did the theater where we saw the ballet. With temperatures running close to 100 right now, it is stiffling inside. It must have been in the high 80s inside the theater.

Most Moscovites live in high rise apartment buildings, with no AC. Our guides tell us it is unbearable inside. Makes me appreciate my central AC all the more.

Off to the Vodka Museum today!