Park Inn Sadu Moscow

Saw Lenin in his Mausoluem today. He had dirty finger nails. Then planned to go to the state museum but it's closed on tuesdays. So tried the Kremlin but there was some function on so they were only allowing tourists in with guides and as that would cost over forty quid we decided to come back on Thursday instead. Saw the Tombe of the Unknown Soldier and wandered around some strees that Inara had recommended we explored. Inara is a friend of my ...

Today we had an organised tour. We also met our fellow passengers, who join us for the trip to Beijing, for the first time. There are six other travellers in our group - a retired gentleman and former mariner, four younger ladies from Brighton who are celebrating landmark birthdays and a woman who may be a couple of years older than Daniel and I.

Our tour was led by a Russian guide ...

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... and music. By the way LOVIN' the king size comfy as a ******* bed, SOOOO lovely! For dinner went to one of the few vegetarian restaurants, which happened to be nearby Greg's place. IT was called Avocado which was cute, but unfortunately they couldn't t bring it to the table as such. The avocado that came in our dishes was a bit hard (though its not the freaking tropics up here but it is their signature ingredient!) and they didn't have wines or dishes we asked for. It was nice in the ...

... e' stato ancora peggio...per comprare 3 biglietti per il treno...ci abbiamo messo 4 ore!!! Per fortuna non ero sola, a St. Pietrburgo mi sono incontrata con Lauren, un altra cochsurfer e fino in Mongolia viaggeremo asieme :) Esauste dopo mille niet, niet (no, no) siamo andati al Teatro Bolshoy, abbiamo comperato i 2 biglietti piu'cari e ci siamo ************a Butterfly...tra l'altro ...

... is where a lot of the sights are including the Kremlin (fortress and palaces), Lenin's Masoleum, St. Basil's Cathedral, GUM (the state owned department store), and a few more. It is called the Red Square (I think) because of the old communist government and the red colour of the bricks in the Kremlin, however it's actual name is Krasnaya Ploschad, which really means "Beautiful Square". St. Basil's Cathedral is the dominating feature of the square that contains ...

... for the Kremlin, just to go in and walk around, for the 6 cathedrals that are inside the walls, and the Diamond Fund where they keep the Imperial Crown Jewels. (You know how we love those). They were gorgeous, of course, but I was surprised at how few there were...I'm not sure if some have been lost or destroyed, but Louisa and I both picked out the tiaras we wanted. I'll make sure you know in time for my birthday. (Insert insightful and thoughtful commentary on icons ...

... as our train had pulled in at 7.30am so we were on the trail by 8am! One of my work mates had told me of a church that you could not leave Russia without viewing. I gave Mike (the work mate) a text, like the good bugger he is he googled it for us and texted back St. P. So that was now one of the first stops. Finding it wasn't a problem as its architecture was, well, unmissable. Karin was like a pig in ****, snapping shots left right and centre. I have to admit this place was ...

... before I flew out. Poster looks very professional and certainly holds its head up high amongst its companion posters (forgive the anthropomorphism). The poster session went for an hour and a half. Turn out was a little disappointing - many of the Russians were in the trade display singing Russian folk songs and many of the other delegates had headed off to the theatre for the evening. Back to Hotel Cosmos to put our feet up and feast on some Russian pizza for dinner.

... town where we spent the day looking around. Later that evening we headed off for Gorky Park. It is a wooded area along the Moscow River, containing a theme park and some restaurants. It also has a Russian space shuttle on display. It is a Challenger like shuttle, covered in asbestos tiles. Quite amazing to think it could make it into space! The next day we went to Novodevichy Convent and Cemetry - next up a train to Yekaterinburg...25 hours