Part 5 of 4: Overtime

Last night's blog post ran long, so we're going into overtime!

As we emerged from the sun-filled but subterranean mall, we saw our final destination, Red Square. Directly in front of us was the Dark Red (with white tile) Historical museum. Off to the left was the gigantic state-run shopping center GUM, and in the distance, the most iconic of Russian buildings, St. Basil's Cathedral. Kathy wanted to head directly there, but Alan insisted that they get pictures of all of the features of the square. Alan was a bit disappointed to see that Lenin's Tomb was closed for viewing by the time they arrived. However, as we worked our way around the square, we were surprised at how many buildings there were, squeezed into a relatively small area.

After crossing half of the square, we both realized that our feet were starting to get very sore. The cobblestones are not very flat, and some of them are laid out a bit uneven, so walking can be a bit tricky. The cobblestones would have a nasty effect on our feet, legs, and backs, when we walked back to our apartment.

Since we knew we would be coming back to Moscow in about a month, the only feature of Red Square we spent a fair time investigating was St. Basil's Cathedral. Way back in April, our second blog entry featured a picture of this onion-domed, multi-colored church. Now, just a few months later, we were standing in front of it, snapping pictures from every angle. Although the cathedral is small, there are so many interesting features, your eyes are constantly drawn back to it, over and over again.



As we walked back to the Square entrance, we commented on the large number of wedding parties that we saw. Many suits and dresses, and every type of obnoxious "Limo" you could imagine seeing in the US. The next day, we learned that it is considered good luck for a marriage to come to the heart of Moscow.

We were very tired and hungry as we walked back to the apartment. We had stopped at a small breakfast cafe on our way out (Alan had meat-filled crepes, yum!), but hadn't eaten anything since then. Now into our 6th hour of walking and sightseeing, we were ready to eat anything. Our final destination for the day was... TGI Fridays. Yeah, it's not very Russian, but after walking for hours and hours, we just wanted some comfort food.

As we went to bed Saturday night, Kathy figured out that the "broken" air conditioner in the bedroom, just had an additional light switch attached to it. So Sunday morning, we awoke to a sunny (but cool) bedroom.

Sunday would be our last day to explore Moscow, and we were a little sad. After our initial discomfort being in a foreign country with a very foreign language, we had grown accustomed to the city. Soon we were ready to head out, and we met our tour guide for the day, Anatoly.

Anatoly had picked us up from the airport on the first day, and inquired how our trip had gone so far. We spoke of our joy with the new chap, the oddness of the train rides, and our adventures exploring the city. We mentioned that one area of the city we really wanted to go to was Victory Park, a large park and memorial to the victory over Germany in WWII. He agreed to take us there, along with the Moscow Hill, and a souvenir shop he recommended (reasonable prices and higher quality). Anatoly was being paid well for the sightseeing trip, and came highly recommended by other adoptive families, so we were not worried that the souvenirs would be overpriced.



Our first stop was the tallest point in Moscow. On the way there, Anatoly pointed out a number of buildings that had a similar style of build. These are known as Stalin's Seven Sisters. The largest of the sisters is Moscow University, (in the background of this picture).




Our next stop was Victory Park. Built to celebrate the Allied victory of World War II, it is very similar to the National Mall in Washington DC. There is a long, paved walkway, flanked by statues and fountains dedicated to those who fought to protect Moscow from the invading forces. At the Western end of the walkway, there is a gigantic Onyx Obelisk that towers over the park.


At the base of the obelisk, there is a large statue of St. George, slaying the dragon.





Nike, the Goddess of Victory watches from the top of the obelisk.


The obelisk is 141.8 meters tall (almost 400 feet), which is 10cm for each day of the war. At least, that's what Wikipedia says.


We looked around a little while longer, looking at both the indoor museum (it arcs behind the obelisk) and an outdoor museum that contained captured or damaged military equipment from World War II. They had Russian tanks, German artillery, even a very small Japanese tank.

After spending a few hours exploring the park, we decided it was time to move on to the souvenir shop. Kathy had a few nieces to buy gifts for, and I had seen a few items I wanted to purchase.

Anatoly drove us back to Novy Arbat, eventually circling around to the south side of Old Arbat street. As we got out of the car and started walking, we realized that we must have passed this very shop on our first day back in Moscow. From the outside, it didn't look all that impressive. But once we got inside, we were impressed.

There were 3 different floors of items, in many different varieties. Kathy purchased a number of Matrushka nesting dolls, along with some hand-painted jewelry boxes. She also got herself a nesting doll set of 5 Chicago Bears players (unfortunately they were out of the Minnesota "Wikings")



Downstairs, Alan found what he was looking for: Shot glasses and military hats. He had seen similar hats on the first day, but that store was selling them for about $30 US, a bit more expensive than what we wanted to pay. When we arrived at this store, they were under $9. Sold! The hat is definitely real military issue, the pins may or may not be. But for that price, it is a very unique souvenir to have.

Finally, it was time to bid goodbye to Anatoly, and settle in for our last night in Moscow. We walked down to the supermarket one more time, to get a good bottle of wine, water, and some Russian chocolates to bring home with us. That night, we made a very delicious dinner of pasta & meat sauce, fresh baguette, and a tasty Cabernet.

We hope you enjoyed the recap of our first trip to Moscow. We have been given an approximate timeframe that we will be heading back, as we get closer to that date we'll let you know!