Moscow - the Kremlin

It's been a while since I blogged - internet availability has been sporatic. So, this is the start of the game of catch up.

My first full day in Moscow, and Jasmin's only day, brought us first to the Kremlin. According to Wikipedia, 'kremlin' is used to refer to any fortified area. I had thought that it meant government buildings of some sort, but though the kremlins around the country do usually include government offices, that is not the official definition.

The Kremlin in Moscow is the largest one in the country. Located at Red Square it is surrounded by tall walls with watch towers. These walls themselves are beautifully built and painted.

a wide shot of Red Square

(the Kremlin is on the left)

looking at the Kremlin from Red Square

a wall and watch tower of the Kremlin

We walked through Red Square and then around the Kremlin complex to get to the park at the front gate of the Kremlin. There we saw a nice fountain and statue as well as some tulips that felt the signs of spring and bloomed just for us.

the fountain

tulips and the walls of the Kremlin

I love tulips!

Inside the Kremlin were government buildings as well as several cathedrals. I hadn't realised that there would be cathedrals. They were really beautiful both inside and out. Unfortunately I couldn't take pictures inside, so views of the outside will have to do. The picture of the paintings on the outside is similar to those found on the indside. The paintings covered the walls and ceiling with images of Christ, Mary and many of the saints. These cathedrals were used for religious purposes as well as coronation ceremonies.

Emily and some of the government buildings

The onion domes of one of the cathedrals

Some of the painting on the outside walls

Moscow - the first night

After finally getting off the train and managing the cab ride to the hostel, we climbed four flights of stairs to the Napolean Hostel. (Located in the building that Napolean actually stayed in when he was in Moscow.) Immediately inside the door to the hostel, guests are greeted by a wall full of old soviet propaganda posters.

We piled into the ten-room beds, showered (after four days on the train we needed it) and set out to do a little exploring for the evening.

Our hostel is located in a really neat part of Moscow and it was fun to walk through the stone streets and see the old buildings. Unfortunately, I don't have any really good pictures of these buildings right now, but here are some funny things we saw during our walk.

We first made our way to Red Square where we saw thousands of Russian military troops. We're not sure exactly why they're in town, but between Yeltsin's death, May day and the Russian national holiday on May 9th, we're in for tons of festivities.

It was really awesome to see them marching so perfectly in sync and in such huge numbers. They also sang/chanted what seemed to be the Russia national anthem - or some sort of patriotic song as they walked. I managed to get a video of that and it was quite amazing!

After crossing the river, we made our way to Sculpture park. This park was recommended by Ben, the Australian I met in Irkutsk. He really enjoyed it and suggested we check it out. We also had the task of adding his "modern art sculpture" to those already there. Jasmin and I didn't find the park quite as impressive as he did, but we did accomplish our task. Here I am with Ben's "sculpture" and the Pinnochio sculpture in the park.

Outside sculpture park was a giant statue of Peter the Great. Supposedly Moscow Russians don't really like it. A Russian friend of Ryan's told him that it was originally designed to be Christopher Columbus as a gift for America. But, America didn't want it (or maybe it was the cold war) and so they re-did the head/face and put it up in Moscow as Peter. I have no idea how much truth there is to this story, but it is interesting regardless. I like the statue.

Our last stop of the evening was Gorky Park. Ryan was very excited about going there because he read a book entitled "Gorky Park" in middle school and had promised himself that if he ever made it to Moscow that he would visit. And there we were. It had gotten a little chilly, so we didn't stay long, but we did have pizza and beer and enjoyed people watching for a while.

the entrance to Gorky Park

On the way home, I used the Moscow Subway (Metro) for the first time. What an amazing maze of tunnels deep below the city. The escalators are extremely tall and the tunnels are long. But, the metro can get you anywhere!