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| Gorky Park - "I <3 Moscow" |
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| Red Square |
I decided that spending 13 weeks in Russia and only leaving St Petersburg once was not good enough. So, I went back to Moscow. Of course there are many other interesting, well-known cities of Russia, but the appeal of its capital was just too great. Cities are always so much less daunting when you visit them for a second time, and returning to Moscow was no exception. I didn't feel the intimidation and nervousness as I did the first time, and could fully appreciate the ram-packed but beautiful metro, as well as the abundance of great monuments, fountains and buildings.
What's more, I finally managed to visit the Kremlin! It's embarrassing to admit that I couldn't find it the last time - what else would be enclosed within the huge turreted walls covering a 275, 000 square feet space? I must, however, cut myself some slack seeing as the entrance into the Kremlin complex is a slightly ridiculous process. Treat this as a guide for future tourists, wondering around these walls looking lost and bewildered (or maybe it's just me):
The single entrance into the complex is within Alexander Garden. There, you must walk past the long queue of tourists that are lucky enough to be entering the Kremlin - do not fear, your time will come. You will find three small ticket offices with probably four or five long queues, because let's face it, only the British know proper queuing etiquette. There are a few options for tickets, all translated in broken, confusing English. Once you have purchased your tickets, walk back to join the long queue of tourists. 45 minutes later (or more) you may or may not be the other side of the wall. This all depends on whether you're the poor sod who can't read a word of Russian and didn't realise that backpacks and big bags are to be kept in lockers back at the ticket offices. Sorry, but you may or may not have a vendetta against President Putin - who knows what you have stored in that back pack, it's not like we're inspecting them anyway.
Once you're in, though, it's worth the long queues. The cluster of cathedrals in the centre of this vast space are absolutely beautiful, and on a sunny day appeared very photogenic. The Kremlin Palace was grand, as expected, but I'd be lying if I said I was a little underwhelmed. I'm not sure what I was expecting really. It's a bit like the image of Number 10 being this huge, eyebrow raising building, when in fact it's just a black building and a cool door.
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| Beautiful Cathedrals - Moscow Kremlin |
I ate more glorious Russian food and lazed about in the famous Gorky Park - seriously, Hyde Park needs to take some pointers from this place! There's so much going on all year round, and seems like a great place to get kids off the streets (she says, being only 21 herself). I even learnt a new sport - Parkour. This involves people jumping from things. Think James Bond, or pretty much any super hero ever invented. They jump from buildings onto other buildings, or bars, or god knows what. Gorky Park had exactly this, but on a much smaller scale - they jumped from and onto wooden boxes.
All in all, another great weekend, and a further excuse for me to eat meat (my Russian host is a veggie) so I'm more than pleased. Just one more week to go in the Motherland!
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| Abbey Road eat your heart out - State Kremlin Palace |
