MOSCOW MOSCOW

WEATHER: Tops 4C – Lows 0C

HIGHTLIGHT OF THE DAY : Arriving into Moscow and walking into Red Square

BUMMER OF THE DAY: It’s cold – brrrrrrrrrrrrrr – like freezing cold

BUYS OF THE DAY:  2 Russian tea cup holders made of brass $500R on the train $1500R in the shop

WORD OF THE DAY: - always written phonetically –

Welcome to Moscow!  The most northern city in Europe with a population of 10 million people, and the 7^th most populated city in the world!!!!  Yes people, it is massive.

I was in Moscow back in 1999, and beside the major landmarks, the place has really changed from what I remember.  It really has a vibe to it now, and in terms of people, clothing and amenities it really has moved forward to join the western world.

We arrived into the beautiful Moscow train station at 9.20am and were transferred to our hotel which was about 25 minutes away.  We are staying at a group of hotels that were originally built for the athletes of the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow.  They are massive buildings and house up to 1900 guests at any one time.  I’d like to say that they have been refurbished in the last 5 years; the bathrooms are new, the heating works and Wi-Fi in the rooms – what else could a traveller ask for?

After a quick turnaround it was off to Red Square.  There are some places in the world that just amaze and Red Square for me is one of them.  Once you have walked through the gates at one end of the square in one frame you can see, St Basil’s cathedral ( that beautiful coloured church that is one of Moscow’s re-known images ) the State Department Sore ( also know now as GUM ) and the Kremlin to the right.  The Kremlin!  It is amazing.  As it is a square though, the wind was ripping right through there, and with the temps at 2C, I hate to think what that wind chill factor would have been!

GUM has always been there.  It was there in ’91, but I don’t remember it being so fancy.  It really is now a high end department store, with the like of De Beers, Audi, Tiffany’s etc. now occupying shops.  I remember little stalls of souvenirs and it being poorly lit.  Bill was there in the ‘70’s and he said the only thing you could buy back then were rubber boots and not much was for sale for the locals.  But I think the ‘70’s would have been a scary time to be coming to then the USSR.  The building is just beautiful now, with it having been all cleaned and restored now.  It certainly would give Harrods in London a run for its money that is for sure.

Before we left the hotel, we got copies of our passports, a copy of our visa, and there is a VERY important document you get when you enter Russia, the immigration form (treat as gold – if you lose this you are in a world of hurt) and this is also copied.  By law, your passport stays at the hotel, but if you are pulled up by a policeman in the street and you have your passport or the magic card on you, you need to pay the policeman money to get it back!!!!  Does anyone else see a problem with this?  Dodgy right!!!! What chance have we got if the police do that?

Anyway, so off we set (with photocopies in hand) and Julia took us for an orientation of the city – where she lived and studied for a few years.  It was good for us to get our bearings.  Everywhere you look there is just a ‘wow’ factor.  Even though it is freezing, once you start walking around for a few hours, if the wind behaves itself, it really isn’t too bad.  Half way through, it started to snow!  AWESOME, we’re in Moscow and it is colder than the temperatures we got in Siberia!!!!

For transport, the city is set up on a Metro system.  The stops at the stations are in Russian (no English) but set up very similar to the tube in London.  They have different coloured ‘lines’ and metros where you need to change.  I think for me the concern is that everyone puts the fear of god into you with pickpockets travelling through the Metro’s.  It is nice to be fore warned, but they make it sound a little scary.  Beside that, the stations being in Russian for some reason just throws me off a little – not sure why.  I guess this is part of the experience and I will need to get used to it as I want to go to the Cosmonauts Museum tomorrow, and I need to use the metro AND change lines to get there!  Let’s see how that pans out.  There are some Metro’s worth seeing just for their beautiful architecture.  There is a circle line that runs the internal network that you can just hop on and off to take pictures.  It really is not permitted to take photos, but if caught the fine is $100R, which is about $3.50AUD – so I think I can handle that. 

Our last stop for the day was old Arbat Street.  It is a busy pedestrian area full of café’s and shops, but back in the 18^th-19^th century it was a traditional place of residence for the gentry.  The architecture was awesome through here.  It really is an amazing place.

Off to the Kremlin tomorrow, yep the Kremlin!!!!  How amazing does it sound?

Moscow – you may be cold – but I think I like you a lot!!!!