Moscow - Part 2

I wanted to get in a few runs while in Moscow, but there are lots of busy streets near the hotel, so after some research I figured out Gorky park was the place to go running in Moscow.  It was just over a mile there from the hotel, traffic was light since it was Saturday & a holiday weekend.

The park was great, it was along the river & was very clean. The weather was really nice (in the 50s). I did see a few runners, but running is not very popular in Russia.  Unfortunately near the end of my 6 mile run, my left calf started to tighten up on me.  I think this was due to all the flying & sitting for long periods of time.  My leg was sore, but luckily I didn't pull my calf muscle.

I then had a 2.5 hour walking tour of the city later that morning.  It is free tour with a tip expected at the end if the guide does a good job.  I usually give about $10-15.  There were a lot of people for the tour, so we split up into 2 groups.  There were people from South America, Europe, Pakistan, & only one other American.  The tour guide Elena was very good.  She spoke excellent English, had a good sense of humor, & shared lots of good information on the city.  The other American was from Washington DC and she is towards the end of a long European trip.  We went to lunch together after the tour at Russian cafeteria style restaurant.  She was the only American I met in Moscow, most of the other tourists I met were Europeans.

After getting back to the hotel, I took a break & then went on a self guided tour of the more interesting subway stations.  I am going to do a separate post on the subway system.

After the subway tour, I did a walk through a different part of downtown.  I noticed a ton of police surrounding Moscow's largest church & wasn't sure what was going on.  I later found out Putin & the mayor of Moscow were there for an Easter service.  Easter in Russia is later than our Easter since the Russian Orthodox uses a different calendar.

Unfortunately shortly after taking this photo, the police closed the bridge due to Putin's visit to this cathedral.  I had to take a long route back to get to the subway.