I decided to spend a couple of extra days in Moscow site-seeing after I finished up work. Like the weekend before in St. Petersburg, Jenn helped plan a lot! She worked really hard to try to get us tickets to the ballet at the newly renovated Bolshoy Theatre, but tickets sold out. So instead, Joey, Jenn, and I had dinner at Café Pushkin on Friday and then headed to the Ritz Carlton’s rooftop bar, the O2 lounge.
The restaurant/bar is all-glass and kind of suspended in mid-air in the center of the hotel. There’s an outdoor area that was completely deserted due to the cold, but we braved the weather for a few minutes to see the view and take some pics. Then we warmed up indoors with $30 vodka cocktails. That was nothing compared to the caviar - $1,500!! There is no way fish eggs taste that good. Even though I was in Russia, caviar was one thing I refused to try. Fish is not my thing.
On Saturday, we tried to fit in everything we wanted to see so Sunday could just be a relaxing day before our flights home. Luckily, the protests had cooled down a bit and Red Square was re-opened. Because of the elections the week before and the subsequent mass demonstrations, there were military and security personnel everywhere. Since military service is mandatory for teenage men, all of the soldiers seemed so young to me. But I definitely felt safe with hundreds of them surrounding my hotel and the big tourist destinations. It was very clear throughout the week with the sites closed and increased security that Russia was not going to risk an uprising like Egypt’s or Libya’s.
First stop on Saturday’s itinerary was Lenin’s Mausoleum in Red Square. Before his death, Lenin told everyone not to make any monuments to him. But after he died, and against the wishes of his wife, he was embalmed and put on public display. To this day, he's shown in a glass case inside his mausoleum, exactly as he was when he died in 1924. His body is so life-like that when we were passing through, I couldn’t help thinking his eyes would pop open at any moment, and he'd sit up and wave at us. The tomb is heavily guarded and only a few people are let in at a time, for a short amount of time. I guess Jenn and I were taking too long, so we were shuffled out by security. Behind the mausoleum, other famous people like Stalin and Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space, are buried. But since we couldn’t read the cyrillic writing, we had no idea whose tombs we were looking at.
Once inside the Kremlin, we visited the State Armoury. The Armoury holds much more than just weapons and armour and was really interesting. We saw carriages and sledges (giant sled carriages for the royal family to travel in through the tundra) as well as Catherine the Great’s dresses, original Faberge eggs, and the State Diamonds (similar to the Crown Jewels of England but the Russian collection).
Also inside the Kremlin walls, there is a courtyard containing three cathedrals and one church. The exteriors of the church and cathedrals all feature gold domes. The Cathedral of the Assumption held the crownings of the Russian princes and was the burial place of important people within the Orthodox Church. Across the square is Ivan the Great Bell Tower. Outside lays the largest bell in the world, the Tsar Bell.
After leaving the Kremlin, Joey, Jenn, and I walked to Arbat, a pedestrian street full of souvenir shops and cafes. We had lunch at Tepemok, a fast-food joint known for good, cheap blinis, and then walked around for a while.
On our last night in Russia, we went to Khachapuri, a Georgian restaurant. Georgian cuisine is extremely popular in Moscow, being that Georgia is part of the CIS (former Soviet countries) and it’s delicious! Khachapuri lived up to its name and served all different types of khachapuri, or cheesy bread. So on Saturday night, I had the traditional khachapuri with potato and cheese dumplings and vegetable soup. For dessert, I tried the mountain honey pot. Europeans eat honey by itself, which I’ve always thought would be too sweet, so I ordered yogurt with my mountain honey. And to be honest, it was disgusting. The honey was so bitter. I’m not sure if that’s how real honey is (without the added sugar) or if it was the added “mountain” flavour. Not a great end to my really, really good meal. Oh, well.
On Sunday morning, we toured St. Basil’s Cathedral. It had snowed on Saturday night and it was finally cold enough to stick, so it was nice to see Red Square covered in a light dusting.
The Bolshoy
The restaurant/bar is all-glass and kind of suspended in mid-air in the center of the hotel. There’s an outdoor area that was completely deserted due to the cold, but we braved the weather for a few minutes to see the view and take some pics. Then we warmed up indoors with $30 vodka cocktails. That was nothing compared to the caviar - $1,500!! There is no way fish eggs taste that good. Even though I was in Russia, caviar was one thing I refused to try. Fish is not my thing.
O2 Lounge from the roof
Jenn and me in chairs designed after the Faberge eggs
On Saturday, we tried to fit in everything we wanted to see so Sunday could just be a relaxing day before our flights home. Luckily, the protests had cooled down a bit and Red Square was re-opened. Because of the elections the week before and the subsequent mass demonstrations, there were military and security personnel everywhere. Since military service is mandatory for teenage men, all of the soldiers seemed so young to me. But I definitely felt safe with hundreds of them surrounding my hotel and the big tourist destinations. It was very clear throughout the week with the sites closed and increased security that Russia was not going to risk an uprising like Egypt’s or Libya’s.
First stop on Saturday’s itinerary was Lenin’s Mausoleum in Red Square. Before his death, Lenin told everyone not to make any monuments to him. But after he died, and against the wishes of his wife, he was embalmed and put on public display. To this day, he's shown in a glass case inside his mausoleum, exactly as he was when he died in 1924. His body is so life-like that when we were passing through, I couldn’t help thinking his eyes would pop open at any moment, and he'd sit up and wave at us. The tomb is heavily guarded and only a few people are let in at a time, for a short amount of time. I guess Jenn and I were taking too long, so we were shuffled out by security. Behind the mausoleum, other famous people like Stalin and Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space, are buried. But since we couldn’t read the cyrillic writing, we had no idea whose tombs we were looking at.
Lenin’s Mausoleum
After the mausoleum, we walked through Alexander Gardens to the Kremlin. We passed the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and then under Trinity Tower before entering the Kremlin. The Kremlin is the seat of Russian government, so it was also heavily guarded. I took one step off the sidewalk and immediately a guard blew his whistle at me to get back on the path. Oops!
The Kremlin's Saviour's Tower
(This gets blown up in the latest Mission Impossible)
Alexander Gardens
Once inside the Kremlin, we visited the State Armoury. The Armoury holds much more than just weapons and armour and was really interesting. We saw carriages and sledges (giant sled carriages for the royal family to travel in through the tundra) as well as Catherine the Great’s dresses, original Faberge eggs, and the State Diamonds (similar to the Crown Jewels of England but the Russian collection).
Also inside the Kremlin walls, there is a courtyard containing three cathedrals and one church. The exteriors of the church and cathedrals all feature gold domes. The Cathedral of the Assumption held the crownings of the Russian princes and was the burial place of important people within the Orthodox Church. Across the square is Ivan the Great Bell Tower. Outside lays the largest bell in the world, the Tsar Bell.
Cathedral of the Annunciation
Ivan the Great Bell Tower
The Tsar Bell
After leaving the Kremlin, Joey, Jenn, and I walked to Arbat, a pedestrian street full of souvenir shops and cafes. We had lunch at Tepemok, a fast-food joint known for good, cheap blinis, and then walked around for a while.
On our last night in Russia, we went to Khachapuri, a Georgian restaurant. Georgian cuisine is extremely popular in Moscow, being that Georgia is part of the CIS (former Soviet countries) and it’s delicious! Khachapuri lived up to its name and served all different types of khachapuri, or cheesy bread. So on Saturday night, I had the traditional khachapuri with potato and cheese dumplings and vegetable soup. For dessert, I tried the mountain honey pot. Europeans eat honey by itself, which I’ve always thought would be too sweet, so I ordered yogurt with my mountain honey. And to be honest, it was disgusting. The honey was so bitter. I’m not sure if that’s how real honey is (without the added sugar) or if it was the added “mountain” flavour. Not a great end to my really, really good meal. Oh, well.
On Sunday morning, we toured St. Basil’s Cathedral. It had snowed on Saturday night and it was finally cold enough to stick, so it was nice to see Red Square covered in a light dusting.
The Historial Museum in Red Square
St. Basil’s was a lot bigger on the inside than I thought it would be. The top floor was like a maze through all of the domes, which are each separate chapels.
Then we did some last-minute souvenir shopping at GUM, Russia’s largest department store, and the Christmas market in Red Square.
Finally it was time to head home to get ready for our trip back to the states for Christmas!
I love your posts! I am jealous on how much you get to travel. Did you buy a Faberge egg chair to take home? Those are awesome!
ReplyDeleteAnother exciting adventure! I will become a couch potato adventurer since following your blog is as good as being there. Looking forward to the next adventure.
ReplyDelete