The last big trip we took was a whirlwind of some cities that were on our list of places to see (but not spend a lot of time in) so we could get a little taste of them, and included Moscow, St. Petersburg, Prague, and Amsterdam.
Being worried that we'd be totally lost since we don't speak or read a smidge of Russian, we decided to book a guided tour. I'm so glad we did, too! Some of the tourist attractions have signs in English, and some of the people who work with tourists speak English, but other than that, we would have been in big trouble! The tour we decided on was about 2 days in Moscow and 2 1/2 in St. Petersburg.
We arrived in Moscow at about 10 in the morning after a very long night of flights. We were in for our first shock stepping off the plane. For a major city, the Moscow airport wasn't much to look at. Most of the planes were parked in the gate area, like a parking lot, and you had to walk from the plane to the terminal. The airport looked old, and there was little in the way of decoration. We met our driver, who barely spoke English, and he took us to the hotel. It was probably one of the most awkward hours of my life, and one where I struggled the hardest to stay awake.
We finally made it to the hotel, the Melody Hotel, which was a smaller place just outside of the tourist area, tucked away on a quiet side street. While it wasn't the fanciest hotel ever, it was clean, and it had internet and a restaurant downstairs, so we were in good shape! We checked in early and ran upstairs to freshen up as we were leaving for a tour in about an hour (keep in mind it was just after noon, and we'd been traveling since the night before). Our guide and driver picked us up, and off we went for a whirlwind look at Moscow. That first afternoon, they drove us around the city and we stopped at a few places, including the Novodevichy Convent and Cemetery, Victory park, some of the Moscow University buildings, and a monument to Peter the Great. I should stop and mention here that we were in Russia. In October. So yes, it was cold. And rainy. And windy. I think if it had been warmer and sunny, we would have been disappointed!
Our first stop was the Novodevichy Convent and Cemetery. Our guide focused primarily on the cemetery, which is a popular burial site for Russian nobility as well as quite a few political figures (some of the graves we saw included Chekhov, Khrushchev, and Yeltsin). This was a great opportunity for us to get a quick overview of Russian history, as our guide soon realized that we were coming into this trip on the uninformed side of things.
On the way to our next stop, we drove past one of the Moscow University buildings. The university is the oldest and largest university in Russia, and the seven main buildings are well known and easy to spot around the city.
Our next stop was Victory Park, which is now primarily a World War II monument. The park contains a Russian Orthodox church, a mosque, and a synagogue, representing the diversity of Moscow and the impact of WWII on the different religious groups.
There is also an obelisk in the park, which is 1,418 meters tall, with each 10 cm representing a day of the war. The obelisk contains a statue of St. George slaying a dragon, representing the defeat of the Nazis, and a statue of Nike, goddess of victory. The main avenue of the park is made up of five terraces, one for each year of the war, and alongside the avenue are 1,418 fountains, which were not only very impressive and beautiful, but blew a lot of cold spray on us.
On our way to the last stop of the afternoon, we ducked into one of the Moscow Metro stations. I didn't manage to get a picture, as it was rush hour and the station was packed, but I'll just say it was very impressive. The metro stations were built under Stalin, and were designed to be radiant with a lot of marble, beautiful chandeliers, and artwork. I was so shocked to see something so beautiful built into an underground station!
The last stop of the first day was to take a look at a statue. At first, it was pretty hard to discern what was so special, until our guide told us the story behind it....
This statue was designed to be given as a gift to us. Or, I should say, the US. It's supposed to be Christopher Columbus with his three ships (the other two are smaller, near the base of the statue). Well, evidently we didn't like the statue, so we sent it back! How rude! The Russians changed the face, and now it's a tribute to Peter the Great. Supposedly most Russians dislike the statue, but the guide said she wasn't sure if it was because the statue is ugly, or because of its history.
We ended our tour the first day pretty late in the evening. Our guide left us a few blocks from our hotel (with good directions and a map!) in an area with a lot of restaurants. The only problem was everything was in Russian, and we had no idea what was what. It was getting late, and we were cold and exhausted, so after looking around for a few minutes, we finally gave up and went back and ate at the hotel. Fortunately, the food was really good! After a very long day, we were glad to get some rest.
Our second day in Moscow was just as full as the first! We met up with our guide again in the morning, and headed off to Red Square. The name of Red Square, we learned, actually is better translated as "Beautiful Square" because of Saint Basil's Cathedral and the other beautiful buildings on the square, such as the one that now houses the State Historical Museum, another church, and quite a few other very pretty buildings.
Also in Red Square is Lenin's tomb.
Just behind Red Square is a marker that marks the center of Moscow. If you toss a coin onto it, you can make a wish. It turns out that tossing coins and/or rubbing parts of statues and wishing is very common in Russia.
There is also a little park with (another) World War II memorial, as well as some very pretty fountains.
We spent the remainder of our time in the Kremlin. The Kremlin is actually made up of many buildings, military buildings, palaces, museums, and churches. And some beautiful bronze castings, such as the Tsar bell (complete with cracked piece, which weighs 11 tons by itself) and the Tsar cannon (complete with strangers, which give you a sense of the size).
What caught our eye most were the churches, maybe because they are so pretty, or maybe because we knew next to nothing about the Russian Orthodox Church and it seemed a good time to learn. Russian Orthodox cathedrals are very pretty, and very different from what we were expecting. In Moscow, the churches are very much in the old style. These are the outsides of the ones that make up the Kremlin.
I didn't actually take any pictures of the insides of the cathedrals. Some of them allowed it and some didn't, but it didn't seem right, so I just kept my camera away and tried to pay attention to what our guide was saying about the significance of the things in the cathedrals and the history of the church. I do have some inside pictures from St. Petersburg, but the cathedrals there are much more European in style. Here is a link to a picture that I think best captures the essence of the interior of the cathedrals. It was cloudy when we were there, and not all of the chandeliers were lit, so it was actually darker than this picture. The walls and ceiling are all painted with saints, prophets, angels, and so on. At the front of the cathedral is always an icon stand, with icons of Jesus and Mary and the patron saints and beautiful wooden doors.
When I post about St. Petersburg I can talk more about the different parts of the cathedral and show you some pictures, but I do want to say that these cathedrals are remarkable. They are beautiful in a way that I can't really describe other than to say you can really feel a presence and a spirit there that I don't think I have ever felt anywhere else. Standing in the dark, looking at the paintings and icons is truly something I will never forget.
Later that day we left Moscow for St. Petersburg by train. It was really neat to travel through the Russian countryside, looking at the houses and other buildings. Moscow and St. Petersburg aren't really near each other, about 450 miles, but there really wasn't a lot between them as far as cities. It's a good thing we had a few hours on the train to rest, because excitement was waiting for us in St. Petersburg!
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