Moscow
Trip Start
Jul 07, 2008
1
2
29
Trip End
Oct 01, 2008
Moscow,
Central Russia,
Russian Federation
Friday, July 11, 2008
We were straight off the train and onto Moscow's famous underground (well almost straight onto, we got a little lost, as the signposting was a little confusing). The underground stations are supposed to be a tourist attraction in themselves and some of them really are, more like underground palaces than just a means of transport. Although the Muscovites don't seem to have that much appreciation for them as they hurry to and from wherever they are going. The Metro is always really busy.
We have been to Red Square and the Kremlin and to Lenin's Mausoleum, a strange experience, descending into a darkened cold room specially built in Red Square to see what looks like a wax figurine. Anyway the buildings around Red Square are beautiful and the Kremlin's Cathedrals make the place very different to the preconceived notion of a dour goverment complex.
Also on the side of Red Square is the GUM shopping complex which was built in the 1890's and now has a great collection of all the poshest shops, presumably much better stocked than they were 20 or 30 years ago.
Again the Russian granduer is the underlying theme.
We also had an outing to the circus, which has been going in Moscow since 1890. The human acts were amazing, trapeze, jugglers, acrobats, a couple dancing and doing acrobatics on horses! The animal acts were also good but you can't help feeling sorry for the animals, which are obviously worked pretty hard and the lions were obviously pretty scared of the trainer (he did however put his head in the lions mouth, as expected, so it's hard to help but be amazed.) As a little aside, following on from the St Petersburg entry we also went to the zoo in SP to see the Polar Bears but it is not recommended, the place is really like a prison for animals rather than a zoo. Huge bears, cats etc in tiny cages, obviously going insane. A pretty unpleasant experience.
Also while we were in Moscow there was the "Moscow City Racing" event, complete with F1 cars from BMW and Red Bull, pretty cool to see them blasting down the road near Red Square although it was boiling hot that day so the wait was pretty trying. It didn't dampen the enthusiasm of the many Muscovites who turned out for a glimpse of the action..
Guard at the mausoleum
