Thurs. 9-20-18
We arrived at out hotel around noon. It is a five star hotel smack dab in the middle of everything in Moscow. We walked around a bit, then met up with Jim and Danette and set out exploring. Moscow is really gorgeous and very cosmopolitan. We are a five minute walk from the old KGB headquarters, GUM department store, red square, the Kremlin, the Bolshoi theater and multiple long pesdistrian boulevards lined with shops and cafes, all covered with over hangs of beaitiful festive lights. The city was amazing all lit up. We had a fun dinner at a cafe and imbibed in our first Russian beers. Since the Russian alphabet is different, I have no idea of the names of anything, but enough English is spoken to easily get about. It has been surprisingly warm since we arrived in Europe, high 70's........ I still can not believe we are in Moscow Russia, so surreal .......
We arrived at out hotel around noon. It is a five star hotel smack dab in the middle of everything in Moscow. We walked around a bit, then met up with Jim and Danette and set out exploring. Moscow is really gorgeous and very cosmopolitan. We are a five minute walk from the old KGB headquarters, GUM department store, red square, the Kremlin, the Bolshoi theater and multiple long pesdistrian boulevards lined with shops and cafes, all covered with over hangs of beaitiful festive lights. The city was amazing all lit up. We had a fun dinner at a cafe and imbibed in our first Russian beers. Since the Russian alphabet is different, I have no idea of the names of anything, but enough English is spoken to easily get about. It has been surprisingly warm since we arrived in Europe, high 70's........ I still can not believe we are in Moscow Russia, so surreal .......
Fri. 9-21-18
We were up and on tour by 10:00 AM. Our first stop was Red Square where we walked and toured the different churches in St Basils cathedral. We then went to GUM department stores which is a mall full of all high end stores, Tiffanys Cartier, Ferragamo, Dior etc..... We ate a fabulous lunch at the Look cafe, then finished our afternnon at the Kremlin. The Kremlin is a small city with a wall. There are Kremlins throughout Russia as Kremlin means a fortified town. But THE Kremlin is the one we all hear about. It was started in 1157. It overlooks St Basils and Red Square. We toured the armoury chamber that contained the clothing of previous rulers, gold, gifts tobRussia from other counties, the carriages, armor and 9 of the 54 Fabergeceggs. Next we walked the center which were four cathedrals, then viewed the Building where Putin has his office, His residence is actually outside the city center. The Russia Citadel Is also in the Kremlin. We returned to the hotel around 6:00 pm. We had such big lunch and breakfast, that we skipped dinner, and just has some cocktails and snacks with Jim and Danette.
We were up and on tour by 10:00 AM. Our first stop was Red Square where we walked and toured the different churches in St Basils cathedral. We then went to GUM department stores which is a mall full of all high end stores, Tiffanys Cartier, Ferragamo, Dior etc..... We ate a fabulous lunch at the Look cafe, then finished our afternnon at the Kremlin. The Kremlin is a small city with a wall. There are Kremlins throughout Russia as Kremlin means a fortified town. But THE Kremlin is the one we all hear about. It was started in 1157. It overlooks St Basils and Red Square. We toured the armoury chamber that contained the clothing of previous rulers, gold, gifts tobRussia from other counties, the carriages, armor and 9 of the 54 Fabergeceggs. Next we walked the center which were four cathedrals, then viewed the Building where Putin has his office, His residence is actually outside the city center. The Russia Citadel Is also in the Kremlin. We returned to the hotel around 6:00 pm. We had such big lunch and breakfast, that we skipped dinner, and just has some cocktails and snacks with Jim and Danette.
Sat. 9-22-18
We hit the tour trail this AM starting at the Tretyakov art gallery which is a collection of religious icons, then all of the Russian masters including Aivazovsky, Vrubel and Vasnetsov.. We ate lunch at a cafe at the museum, then had a city tour. We went to a hill high above the cit, Sparrow Hills, where the University is also located. It afforded us a great view of the city. We then went to a hotel in one of the 7 city towers and saw an amazing diagram of the city. We did some souvenir shopping, then marketed at the first grocery store in Rissia, Harrods. It is the most beautiful ornate grocery store we have shopped in! We drove by the stadium where the World Cup was just held, Gorky Park, the Tsaritsyno Estate,the street and house where the Romanoff family were from,whereWe then checked in aboard our ship. We are on the top deck with great glass wall balcony. We Had meeting with our on board guide for just the 9!of us. We had cocktails and watched the sunset on our balcony, then the cold front that has been threatening blew in with some rain. We were told by our leader, Misha that the Indian summer is over, the cold is now here. We have assigned tables for dinner and our sever all week us a cute gal, Valeria. We did not get done with dinner till 8:30, late for us. We are out touring from the boat at 9:00 am tomorrow.
We hit the tour trail this AM starting at the Tretyakov art gallery which is a collection of religious icons, then all of the Russian masters including Aivazovsky, Vrubel and Vasnetsov.. We ate lunch at a cafe at the museum, then had a city tour. We went to a hill high above the cit, Sparrow Hills, where the University is also located. It afforded us a great view of the city. We then went to a hotel in one of the 7 city towers and saw an amazing diagram of the city. We did some souvenir shopping, then marketed at the first grocery store in Rissia, Harrods. It is the most beautiful ornate grocery store we have shopped in! We drove by the stadium where the World Cup was just held, Gorky Park, the Tsaritsyno Estate,the street and house where the Romanoff family were from,whereWe then checked in aboard our ship. We are on the top deck with great glass wall balcony. We Had meeting with our on board guide for just the 9!of us. We had cocktails and watched the sunset on our balcony, then the cold front that has been threatening blew in with some rain. We were told by our leader, Misha that the Indian summer is over, the cold is now here. We have assigned tables for dinner and our sever all week us a cute gal, Valeria. We did not get done with dinner till 8:30, late for us. We are out touring from the boat at 9:00 am tomorrow.
