Moscow - Part 1

Even though I was still tired from the travel, I was up early due to the 7 hour time difference from Charleston to Moscow.   I planned to see a lot on my first day in Moscow since many of the sights would be more crowded on the weekend.

The first stops were Red Square, the Kremlin, & St Basil's cathedral.  When I took high school Russian classes there was a giant mural of these places on the wall, so it was great to finally see them in person.  Red Square was decorated for the upcoming May Day & Victory Day celebrations.

To the left of picture just past the seats is Lenin's tomb.

View of Red Square from inside St Basil's

Billboards for Victory Day celebration.

After walking through Red Square, I bought a ticket to visit the Kremlin.  The Kremlin is a walled complex that contains several cathedrals, the Russian senate, & Putin's office (he lives about 20 miles away).  The cathedrals were impressive & the grounds inside were nice.  I didn't see or get to meet Putin, but saw his helicopter pad that he uses to commute to work.

Guard at the Kremlin gate.

After touring the Kremlin, I went to St Basil's cathedral next.  I assumed that there was a huge worship area inside, but instead there are 9 small rooms inside which are essentially 9 churches.  I did get a few photos of the inside of the church along with some photos of the outside at night.

 

They have a tomb of the unknown soldier outside the walls of the Kremlin & have a changing of the guard ceremony every hour.  Here are a few photos of it.

I headed over to the GUM shopping mall on Red Square for lunch.  During communist times this was a famous department store in Moscow, now it is a mall with lots of upscale shops.  

After lunch, I hopped on the subway to see the Russian space museum.  There were plenty of cool exhibits in there with most exhibits having English translations for them, the cost was only $6.  I also got an audio guide in English with my ticket to provide additional information on what I was seeing.  Here is what the top of building looks like, I didn't take any photos inside.

It is hard to see, but at the top of the monument is a rocket.

The museum is located in a cultural park which goes back to Soviet times and contains buildings with cultural exhibits from each of the former Soviet countries such as Armenia & Georgia.  There are also fountains, gardens, and plenty of places to eat.

After a long day of sightseeing, I got on the Metro & headed back to the hotel.