We left St. Petersburg early in the morning and took the express train to Moscow. In 4 hours it covered the 450 mile stretch of land. We had this day planned out months in advance.
It didn’t quite go as planned…
The line at the Kazan station cloakroom was horrendous. We didn’t want to spend over 2 hours in line when we had less than 9 hours to explore the city. So, we left with our 15 pound packs on our backs and navigated the metro.
Our stop landed us about .4 miles from the plaza where we catch the sightseeing bus. The subway scrambled my inner compass and I was mesmerized by the buildings around me. Before we knew it our destination was over a mile away! Ha! We jumped on a city bus and were there pretty quickly.
The line for the tour bus was maybe 100 people long. Again we didn’t want to spend all our time in line.
Flexibility is the key to traveling well. We decided we mainly wanted to see Red Square, the Kremlin, and Saint Basil’s Cathedral. We found that they are grouped together and in close walking distance.
I was awed to see the artistry of Saint Basil’s Cathedral up close and in person. The whole square was surrounded with beautifully detailed historic buildings. We walked across, trying to get pictures that came close to showing the majesty of the red square.
Moscow is a commercial and architectural convergence of cultures and religions of different people groups. It layers representations of time, historical through modern. This photo does a good job of representing that.
On our way to find the Karl Marx memorial statue we stopped for a beer and chatted with Polish fans getting ready for their game. They reminded Mike of the right way to pronounce his last name.
Before we came on our trip to Russia, we watched Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown episode on Russia. (I highly recommend it.) After more walking I decided I wanted the Anthony Bourdain experience of traditional Russian vodka with Russian caviar and blinis. Mike decided he wanted a nice cigar bar. We used Foursquare (remember that app? It’s going strong in Russia.) and found the 10th floor Hyatt Conservatory. We both got exactly what we wanted.
And then the sky opened and dumped heavy rain and hail on us. Haha!
It was time to head back to the Kazan train station. We had dinner a few blocks from it, then boarded our sleeper car for the night.
Not the most comfortable…
PLEASE tell me the real pavement looks like the pavement in the picture.
I’m not sure what pic you mean. But, it’s not red. I honestly didn’t look down. I found this in Wikipedia:
One sec… The name Red Square originates neither from the pigment of the surrounding bricks (which, in fact, were whitewashed at certain periods) nor from the link between the colour red and communism. Rather, the name came about because the Russian word красная (krasnaya), which means both “red” and “beautiful,” was applied to a small area between St. Basil’s Cathedral, the Spassky Tower of the Kremlin, and the herald’s platform called Lobnoe Mesto (contrary to the common misconception, it actually never was a place of execution),
I just meant the groovy multi-colored pavement in the “I Love Moscow” drawing.
Oh! Sorry, I never explained. That is a Wall in the Moscow subway!