Moscow

Поехали в Москву (Lets go Moscow)

Sculpture graveyards, Cold War Bunkers, Pub Crawls and the Kremlin!

31/08/2017: Day One

After our overnight train from St Petersburg we arrived bright and early into Moscow at 6am. We headed straight to our hostel, Godzillas, we checked in and grabbed another couple of hours of shut eye before heading off to check out the sights.

First stop was to Lenin’s mausoleum, it is quite imposing and incredibly silent. There is no talking or taking photos inside the mausoleum, and there are a lot of angry looking Russian Guards to make sure that you obey this.

We then went to St Basil’s Cathedral, which is actually seven Cathedrals in one. Each Dome is its own Cathedral with each having its own Alter and Saint. It is very easy to get lost in the Cathedral and accidently walk out the exit before seeing the whole building so make sure to keep a count of the number of Domes you have been into.

We then walked to Gorky Park via the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. In Russia if you have to pay to go into a church then you can wear whatever you want, if it is free this means that it is an operational church or Cathedral and thus you must make sure that your legs and shoulders are covered, and if you are a women, have a head scarf. There is also no taking photos in operational Russian Orthodox churches. The Cathedral of Christ Our Saviour is a fairly modern Cathedral and is also the state Cathedral where the President (Putin at the moment) attends all the big Christian calendar events.

Gorky park is also known as the sculpture graveyard of Moscow. If an artist creates a sculpture and cannot sell it then the city of Moscow will buy it and put it in Gorky Park, this includes the massive statue of Peter the First (which was actually supposed to be Columbus and sold to the Americans but they didnt want it so it was renamed and bought by the city of Moscow). Gorky park is along the river and a very relaxing place to spend some of your day in Moscow, we managed to find some sun loungers and have a nap for a little while.

Then it was a tour of the Moscow Subway Stations on our way back to the Hostel for a rest before dinner. The Moscow Subway stations are amazing, everyone is different. Some look like ballrooms, others are full of sculptures, others have stained glass windows, and others have the most intricate murals. There are several subway lines in Moscow but the inner ring has some of the best stations to visit.

Our final stop of the day was Bunker 42, which is an old Cold War Bunker in Moscow. It is 18 flights of floors down and pretty much the same as when it was built in the Cold War. It is fascinating and well worth the visit, but talk to your hostel to book it for you as it is quite hard to book by yourself.

01/09/2017: Day Two

Day two in Moscow and we hit the massive market that is just outside the city centre. It runs Friday through Sunday, we went on the Friday and it was only the Tourist stores that were open (on the weekend it is also full of food, clothing and everything else imaginable). If you are after souvenirs this is the best place to go as you can get everything a fraction of the price that is in the shops around Moscow.

We then spent the rest of the afternoon at the Kremlin, which is very impressive if just a little imposing. The Kremlin used to be the building that Russian Royal Family ran things from, that was claimed by the government after the revolution. Because it is still the Government buildings there are a lot of Guards telling you where you can’t go and yelling very loudly if you go where you shouldn’t. The base ticket gets you inside and lets you into most of the buildings on site, including the four churches in the middle of the complex. One of the churches even holds the Tombs of many members of the royal family.

On our way back to the Hostel we went to the State Central Museum of Contemporary History of Russia which outlines the History of Russia from just prior to the Revolution and the events leading up to it, up to present day. It is well worth the visit; the only problem is that there are no English translations except in certain parts of the exhibit so make sure to take a translator with you.

The day was finished off with a pub crawl, what trip to Russia would be complete without one, and Louise and I had our first shots of proper Russian Vodka. It will be hard to drink any other Vodka from now on, this stuff is so nice!

02/09/2017: Day Three

It’s our last morning in Moscow before starting on our 4 day and night journey on the train to get to Siberia. Louise and I got up early and decided to go for a walk to see one of the Seven Sisters, a group of buildings commissioned by Lenin after the revolution that have since been turned into a University, Bank, Office Buildings etc. They are very typical examples of post revolution Russian Architecture and are all marked with a Ruby star at the top, same with all the towers of the Kremlin.