Thrown out of Red Square

Trip Start Jun 09, 2003
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9
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Trip End Jun 02, 2007


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Wednesday, June 11, 2003

Well I finally got to see the Kremlin this morning. I didn't go yesterday because it was nearly closing when I got there. It was really impressive, a lot bigger than I thought it would be - it is a minature city afterall. After visiting all the cathedrals which where beautiful, I went to see the Faberge Egg Collection. Wow, is all I can say. I've always wanted to see them and they were fabulous - I didn't want to leave, I could have kept looking at them all day. They were so intricate that every time you looked at them you could see something different.

Yesterday I spent a couple of hours relaxing in the Kremlin park and paddling in the fountains. There was one big fountain and everytime the wind blew it sprayed water right across the path, it was quite amusing watching people getting soaked.

I then went inside St Basil's Cathedral, which made up for the outside. Inside was beatiful, if you could ignore the tacky souvenir stands at every corner. Once back outside I decided to head across Red Square and get something to eat. As I walked across a police car was driving up and down annoucing something in Russian Fountains in the Kremlin Gardens
Fountains in the Kremlin Gardens
 . I got the impression he was asking people to leave the square but as no one else moved, I just kept walking. I got half way across and I was stopped by a policeman who was waving his hands and talking in Russian. Everyone started turning round and walking back out of the square. I decided to sit outside the barrier to see what was going on. About 15 minutes later hundreds of Russian soldiers started marching across the sqaure. Next thing there was the Russian National Anthem booming out of loud speakers all round the square and 4 soldiers marched down the middle carrying the Russian flag. It was when they started doing this a second time that I realised they must be practicing for something. The crowd was then moved back even further as the soliders made a barrier across the road. I left at this point and walked around the outside of the Kremlin, before heading back to my hotel.

Can you imagine my disappointment when I turn on the TV back in my room and there, live on the Russian News, is Red Sqaure - full of hundreds of sailors!!! Life is so unfair!!

Although I can't really complain as an hour earlier I had been surrounded by hundreds of young men in uniform.

Moscow is a beautiful city. I was very nervous about coming to Russia, not being able to speak the language and hearing horror stories about the passport guys at the airport, but it's been great so far. The young Muscovites are incredibly trendy, I feel a scruff in comparison. The shops are amazing. If I wasn't travelling light and on a budget, I'd have spent a fortune by now. They do say that visiting Moscow is not visiting Russia, so I'm looking forward to heading out to the more remote parts of Russia this afternoon.

Hilary
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