It's quite rare that we have the opportunity to leave the city we are staying in. So this trip to Moscow was pretty special. We went with two other people from UOP, Ryan and Evgeniya. Evgeniya is from the Moscow UOP office, so she became our personal tour guide for the long weekend.
We left by train Friday evening. Although it wasn't a high speed train, we got to Moscow in 4 hours while it would take 6 hours of driving. We passed the time by playing Euchre and having some snacks. We arrived late into Moscow, at 11pm. Evgeniya was able to rent us an apartment for the three nights, which is cheaper than a hotel. We dropped our stuff off, and went out to dinner. Our first meal was at an Uzbekistan restaurant, Chaihona No. 1. We ended up staying out a bit later than planned, but it was a great start to our weekend adventure.
On Saturday, we had a 12pm time to go to the Kremlin. Inside the walls contains cathedrals, museums, and even government buildings. We had tickets for the Armory Chamber, which was a museum of Russian history artifacts. It is one of the oldest museums in Russia.We did a self guided audio tour. There was so many different display cases, it would have taken twice as long to look at everything, but the audio tour just talked about main points, and took about an hour. There was of course armor and weaponry, as well as armor and decoration for horses, different thrones and crowns of tsars, coronation gowns and other dresses, royal carriages, and a large collection of silverware. In addition to the Armory Chambery, we went to the Diamond Fund Exhibit. It contains a collection of rare precious stones, intricate jewelry from the 18th and 19th centuries, a collection of the symbols of the royal power, and extraordinary sizes and unique platinum and gold nuggets.
We then headed to the Red Square and met up with one of Evgeniya's friends. As we walked up a small hill, we could slowly see the top of Saint Basil's Cathedral. It was breathtaking from the very first moment. The colors are so vivid and bright, its beautiful. On the inside, there are many small passage ways and winding walkways. William and I even got lost from the others for a bit. In the Red Square there is also Lenin's mausoleum, which you can view his embalmed body. We did not, because it was closed. We walked through the mall, and then decided to get some dinner at a Ukrainian restaurant, Taras Bulba. I had borscht and chicken Kiev.
After going back to the apartment to get ready to go out, we went to a bar with great cocktails. William even had a Pina Colada. We met up with a few more of Evgeniya's friends and had a great time at the bar. We switched bars, and went to Rock and Roll. They played many songs from the 90's which were really fun to dance to. We stayed out dancing till the wee hours of the morning. But, that's the Russian Way. Moscow is the city that doesn't sleep, more so than New York (so I'm told). I believe it though, because when we leave, there's always a fresh crowd just getting there.
Sunday morning came quickly. We decided on an American style restaurant for breakfast/lunch so we went to Beverly Hills. I ordered scrambled eggs with vegetables, toast, and breakfast potatoes with a milkshake. William ordered a bacon blue cheese burger and a milkshake. We are getting use to the slow service in Russia, but it took an hour for my eggs to be served.
After lunch, we walked to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. Inside, people were already getting ready for a prayer service that would take place in the main area. The domes are all painted, which you can see right when you walk in. There were a lot of candles being lit in front of various saints. There was even a basement to this Cathedral, which was already so large, I was impressed there was more.
:)
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