Best Eastern Izmailovo Gamma Moscow

... was called, but it had Russell Crowe, Michael from Arrested Development and Leeloo from The Fifth Element. Sans the bright orange hair...in any case, it was really confusing.

Once at the airport in Moscow, I headed to passport control (the section for foreign nationals was up an emphatically poorly lit escalator) where there was a slow but thankfully fairly short line. I had a little trouble figuring out what the dude ...

... my phone getting footy updates and Tom read his book. Line marking here is merely a suggestion to the drivers, road signs are ignored and it is every man for himself!

We passed hundreds of decrepid multi storey buildings... looked like they were falling down, can't imagine living in them. Makes us thankful for our beautiful cottage!!!

When we arrived at our 4,300 room hotel complex (small family run affair LOL), we met Olga, our guide who lives ...

... hyva jos on karsimaton kun viela on muutama paiva junassa. No ei, kun sitten ic:sta paastiin Tolstoihin niin tunnelma alkoi nousta. Meilla oli hyttikaverina vain yksi venalainen elakelaismies, joka oli ollut juuri Ruotsissa kolme viikkoa ja puhui todella hyvaa ruotsia ja englantikin oli ihan hyvaa. Junassa oli ihan letkea meininki ja nukkumaan paastiin joskus kahdentoista aikaan kun olimme siirtaneet kelloja tuntia eteenpain Moskovan aikaan ja ylittaneet rajan ja ...

... there is a victory, the Muscovites build a park, so there are many parks. We stopped in front of the University at a panoramic overlook and I found a vendor with real Russian glass figurines which were very cute. I mentioned a friend who brought me such a one from Czechoslovakia, and he went into a long rap including the word Chekoslovakie many times. Was he admitting they were really Czech, or denying it? We stopped by the Peter ...

... the dominant Galina barked some incomprehensible Russian babble at him), but then the efficient fire brigade showed up & all was well with the world again. Other activities have included the circus, which we decided to leave at the interval because of the impending appearance of animals in chains (a more effective protest might have been not buying a ticket in the 1st place). The fact that Man United were about to kick off against ...

... of the higher-ups in Lenin's regime wanted to tear down St. Basil's, but Lenin refused as he liked the building too much. The subways were meant to replace religion with ornate architecture and propaganda. Even if the church looks different on the outside(St. Basil's) they all pretty much look the same on the inside. They are filled, floor to ceiling, with icons. Pretty to look at once, but gets boring after a whole week of them. You can't ...

... dessus et presque cracher dessus. Il n y a rien entre les deux! Tout cela sans avoir rien demander. La Russie est vraiment mon pays prefere et je regrette que l on ai pas fait un voyage de 3 mois en Russie, comme cela j aurais pu commencer a apprendre le Russe. A Moscou on a pas fait grand chose. On s est surtout repose. On etait dans un appartement/auberge de jeunesse avec d autres voyageurs et on en a profite pour rester la tranquilement. En achetant ...