Day 1
Don Fraser drove us to the Helsinki Airport at 7:30 am. Finnair took us to St. Petersburg at 9:10. With another hour change and a 40 minute flight we arrived 11:50am. We passed very quickly through customs and then met our friend, Sergie who had a nice sign welcoming us.
Sergie had hired a taxi to take us back to his condo on the 9th floor of a 14 floor high rise. Numerous high rises were in the area along with shops that flanked each side of the road. From the airplane we had seen a city of many high rises. We unloaded our baggage into our room.
Second of three locks to get into Sergie's apartment
After tea we headed for the subway. Sergie pointed out a large supermarket on the way. We rode the blue line of the train six stops and disembarked to catch the red line to the city center. Here we went into the train station to purchase our tickets for Moscow. There were 25 ticket office lines with about ten people deep...So busy ...Mass numbers of people. It took a bit of time to purchase. We felt lucky to get two tickets even though they were not sitting together.
European style buildings,
On we went walking to Mikhailovsky Castle...the pictures tell everything. Absolutely grand...walking down the street into it...passing through the open archway of this grand pale orange structure, and into a courtyard that was huge.
Inside a beautiful statue of King Paul I, owner who lived here only a month before he was suffocated in his bed. The castle became a military engineering school.
We passed St. Petersburg's first palace, a small modest two story Summer Palace built in 1710-1714 in the Summer Garden's northeast corner.
We walked to Dvotsovy Bridge and enjoyed a quick break sitting and watching the people and the boats coming and going. One man was attempting to swim across the wide, wide river. We had a hard time figuring our why....there was so much boat traffic and it looked like a very dangerous thing to do.
We walked through a large park....
and caught the blue line subway back to Moskovskaya to our apartment. What a day! Flight from Helsinki to St. Petersburg, a one hour time change, 40 minute ride into the city center, walking among all the site and sounds of the city, and then a subway ride back to our home away from home....11 stops along the way. Larry and I were both in overload after having three full siteseeing days prior to arriving in St. Petersburg. We slept in a restful coma our first night not even noticing the White Nights of St. Petersburg. It was all so exciting and exhilerating.
Day 2
We decided to take a slower pace today. Having a leisure breakfast and settling in, we walked about a mile to the larger supermarket that he pointed out to us the day before. We passed several small groceries and other shops along the way. This was another great experience. We bought water, chicken, ground beef, eggs, more water, fruit, juice, cheese, bread , jam and more water. HA! We had brought our rolling back pack and a shoulder bag to transport things back to the apartment... Thankful we had the rolling backpack. You can imagine how carrying all that water would have felt like. We had an interesting time finding bullion, especially since there is no canned soup, fresh broccolli, or asparagus here. It was all very interesting and we enjoyed the thrill of reading the packages trying to figure out which package was oatmeal. Visa was accepted as long as you had a passport for identification.
We unpacked our groceries. Sergie also shared a DVD that he had purchased for us on St. Petersburg that was in English. We watched a little of this during the afternoon and each evening to capture some Russian history. Still recouperating from all our activities from the past few days....we decided to take a short nap. I fixed dinner for Sergie, Larry and I that evening. We had a chicken, tomato, potato dish with a fresh salad.
Sergie shared his favorite Russian drink, calling it Russian Cola. It really was nonalcoholic beer.
Sergie also shared some old photos of his family with us after dinner.
About dinner we caught a bus to the Memorial of the Leningrad Blockade...a tremendous monument in the center of a four lane circle of traffic. We walked underground to pass under the road of four lanes of traffic to reach the Monument to the Heroic Defenders of Leningrad. Grand statues and numerous burning flames all commemorated a horrendous time in history in St. Petersburg.
During World War II, the German Nazi's blockaded the city, then called Leningrad renamed after their past leader, Lenin. Around a million people died from shelling, starvation, and disease in what is often called the "900 Days" seige. By comparison, the UK and USA suffered about 700,000 dead between them in all of World War II. Nazis had planned to totally wipe out the city. Food practically became nonexistent. At one point rations of 175g sawdust laden bread were given a day. People ate their pets, rats, and birds. Paste from behind wallpaper was scraped off and eaten. Leather was cooked until it was chewable, and eventually the most desperate souls turned to cannibalism. The only lifeline to the city was across the frozen Lake Ladoga which was also heavily bombed. Despite the 150,000 shells and bombs that rained down on the city, life went on. This momument commemorates those who perished during such a horrendous time.
Passing back through the underground tunnel to the side streets we walked further. We came to a large square of spouting water fountains....much like the Bellagio in Las Vegas. Here we saw the statue of Lenin with a tremendous modern building behind him.
Statue of Lenin
Further through the park we came across a beautiful blue painted church that had the awesome Russian architecture. What a picturesque moment!
Day 3
This morning we woke to cloudy skies. We had planned to ride a boat to Peterhof and then tour the Palace, but because of the rain, Sergie said that it would not be a good trip to take in the rain. So we switched gears and caught the blue subway riding it 7 stops, close to the city center and then boarded the purple line to get off at the first stop.
Ceiling in the Metro
Art honoring war heros in the Metro
Mosaics
Deepest escalator in the city...two of these take you down.
as well as the Golden Arches in Russia
Larry could not stop taking pictures of the European style buildings...they went on and on beside the canal that we walked. Very scenic. The rain was mostly a mist here and there ...We lucked out again.
Red room, blue room, green room...reminded me of going in the White House. Very exquisite furnishings of gold and very valuable paintings displayed on all the walls. Old porcelin vases and ornate mirrors .The rooms were monitored by ladies that would not allow photos...speaking Russian harshly if your camera was in sight. Everything was lavish and over the top for the 1700's time period. Like this was for the very, very rich!
with private viewing compartments for extra special guests.
We had a great sandwich and apple for lunch. Passed by several beautiful pieces of architecture, statues and numerous buildings, we walked through a nice park.
We flagged a bus down and had a great ride through the city back to Sergie's apartment. Another fantastic day of sight seeing!
Sergie fixed us dinner tonight....Chicken and pasta with a homemade tomato sauce and a garlic cream sauce. Very tasty!
We enjoyed watching an English DVD. About 8:30, we had cake and tea with Sergie. It is nice to have a short time to talk together in the evening. I feel our English does wear him out at times, even when we try to talk slowly. It reminds me of our visit to Costa Rica and trying to speak with all of Tatiana's Spanish speaking friends. We could catch a phrase now and then. It was very exhausting on the brain to try to figure each conversation out. I know this must be happening to Sergie as well.
Day 4
What a beautiful day! The sun has returned and it is simply gorgeous!
Larry and I have the day all to ourselves. Sergie is working today. We had a nice walk in the neighborhood, did some window shopping in a mall, and got a few more groceries to get us through the rest of the week.
Larry and I have enjoyed watching the ways of the natives. They have about the same habits as we have. The women are very fashion concious wearing stelletos, nice dresses, painted nails, makeup, colored hair. Many of the people are plump just as in America. Families enjoy pushing their babies in strollers and taking their children to the park to play. They sleep on the subway always.They enjoy bringing home fresh flowers. Flower markets frequent many corners and flowers are everywhere in St. Petersburg.
Church of the Saviour of Spilled Blood is dazzling. Built between 1883 and 1907 on the spot where Alexander II was assasinated; hence its gruesome name.This church is known for taking 24 years to build and 27 years to restore and refurbish, reopening in 1997.
On we walked to a beautiful archway....
The Winter Palace and Hermitage are so large that you can not get a complete picture of the whole building. To get to the Hermitage, you pass through the monumental Dvortsovaya pl, (the Red Square of St. Petersburg) . The center has a statue called Alexanders Column named after Alexander I for his victory of the battle of 1812 over Napolean.
Alexander's Column
The top of Alexander's Column
Magnificent Winter Palace
Gates to the Winter Palace
Inside the gates...a beautiful garden
Beautiful marble statues
The grand marble staircase
Room of Rembrant original paintings
So many beautiful paintings!
Fabulous Faberge Eggs...made by the St. Petersburg jewellers and traditionally exchanged by the tsars and tsarina as gifts each year at Easter.
One of the many grand hallways
What an elaborate hallway!
Egyptian Exhibit
Park outside the Hermitage
One of the exciting things to experience are the St. Petersburg White Nights that occur during June.The nights are light well after midnight and the daybreaks begin around 3:00am.
Midnight
3:00 AM
4:00AM
Off we went in a taxi around 12:30pm to catch the superfast bullet train from St. Petersburg to Moscow. The taxi we rode in did not have a ticking charging mechanism. The amount for the ride was decided before we entered the cab. Sergie went with us, just to make sure the driver took us all the way to the train station. Traffic, trams,amd buses were all over the place and the further we went, the more the back up became. Our half an hour trip turned into about a 50 minute trip....after making a mad dash of it out of the taxi, we made it to the Sapsan Train with about 10 minutes to spare...whew!
The Russian train was super modern and smooth. It left at precisely 1:30 pm and had stewards just like an airplane who came through to give you something to drink and eat. It was all included in our trip. Although there was Russian television to watch, we enjoyed just watching the countryside and Larry found two English speaking passengers to have a nice conversation with. The Train made about four stops along the way and went as fast as 126 mph.The four and half hour ride went by too quickly with us arriving at 6:00pm. We enjoyed it extremely.
Upon getting into the station, Inna, Alean's sister (our exchange friend) was late picking us up. We were very happy to see her coming with a "Welcome Larry and Kay" sign. She had gone to another railway station and realized that we were at this one. Oh well...just a little ripple in our travel.
We loaded her BMW car with our luggage and managed to creep out of the mountain of traffic towards Alena's apartment. Rush hour runs in Moscow from around 4:00 through 7:00 pm. We passed the The Arch of Triumph ...looks very much like the one that is in Paris.
We finally arrived in a section where 25 or more high rises were lining the streets. Most were at least 25 floors. Inna pointed out several places to eat out, the Metro station, and the grocery store. She gave Larry directions for driving Alena's car and took us to the 11th floor of a 12 floor high rise. Alean's apartment was a combination living room-bedroom,and eat in kitchen, and a bath....all we would need to get a good night's sleep after a day of sightseeing. She showed us how to work the television...hello CNN, BBC, European News and a bunch of Russian channels. She also got us plugged into the internet where we have learned to enjoy "You Tube" for the evening.
So what have we been doing in Moscow? Walked the river front here by the apartment. Many Russians enjoy this with a beverage in hand. We have seen many having a little picnic here and just enjoying being outside on the benches that are along the walkway. Lots of fancy strollers and baby carriages are out and about here. The area is dotted with playground and equipment for children. We think the high rise occupants use this a lot to just get out of their apartments for some fresh air. It appears to be a popular spot on both Saturdays and Sundays.
Each day of touring Moscow we have to ride a bus from the apartment to the Metro station. It is about a 10 minute ride costing 28 rubbles on the big bus or 20 rubles on the small vans. This is about a dollar or less per ride each. We have ridden to the local Metro (Kili) and walked around the modern seven floor mall. Lots to look at and see here. Escaltors take you to the various floors of very nice shops for clothing, sportswear, shoes, etc. Internet cafe, Ice cream shop and Restaurants....just like shopping at home in the US except things appear to be very expensive. We have also found the post office in the area....always a long line there.
Around 25-30 rubles equal a US dollar.
Outside the modern mall, Russian fast food.
Wish one of these had English!
Our local supermarket
Our fruit and vegetable vendor
Alexander's Garden
Part of the original limestone wall of the Kremlin
Leaving Alexander's Garden and going into Red Square
Red Square
We visited St. Basil's Cathedral, the ultimate symbol of Russia. What a landmark! I said to Larry, "This is like the pyramids in Egypt except it is the famous landmark of Russia....OMG so cool." It was built between 1555 and 1561 replacing an existing church on the site. It was built to celebrate the capture of Kazan by Ivan the Terrible. It's architectural design is truely the Russian style that had been built in the past with wooden onion shaped domes....this, however was built in red brick with the onion domes being wooden. 
We paid 250 rubbles each to go inside and were really surprised to find it to not be like the traditional churches with benches for the masses to sit. It was divided into many, many little rooms displaying relics and old antiques from its past...lots of nooks and crannies to explore. The inside was designed with nine chapels...some with the original alters. The walls were beautiful painted frescoed designs. From inside it was fascinating to see the workmanship of the brick design. We were fortunate to hear five tenors singing inside. The echo of their voices to the top of the structure was amazing.
In front St. Basil's is a statue of Kuzma Minin and Dmitry Pozharsky, the butcher and the prince who together raised and led the army that ejected the occupying Polish from the Kemlin in 1612.
We ate lunch on the steps of Red Square and just enjoyed the beauty of the structure while watching the people meander about the square. We felt fortunate that St. Basil's was not very busy with tourists on the day of our visit so we could really take our time and enjoy every moment there.
Red Square from St. Basil's
Kremlin Wall Tower
We visited the largest mall in Russia called GUM. The outside was a very old traditional European design facing Red Square. Inside, it was modern, spacious, multileveled with many hallways including a massive structure with sky lights overhead. A gorgeous fountain centered the middle hall. A beautiful building inside and out.
We visited the tomb of the Unknown Soldier on the north wall of the Kremlin. Three soldiers stand at attention near the eternal flame . Changing of the guard occurs every hour...it was an awesome sight to see! The tomb contains the remains of a soldier who died in December of 1941.
One day we took the Metro to Kievskaya and hopped off to take a boat ride on the Moscow River. It was a gorgeous day.We sat on the top deck snapping shots of the bridges and structures along the way. A very relaxing two hour ride took us past Gorky Park, an old ski jump tower left over from the 1980 Olypmics, a massive indoor stadium, many venues of relaxing lounge chairs for sun bathers on the riverfront, the Kremlin Wall, many dome topped churches, and some very modern art buildings.
Kremlin Wall from the Moscow River
The Annunciation Cathedral (1484-89) built as home church for the Moscow Princes and Russian Tsars
We passed by the University of Moscow, which at one time was the tallest building in Moscow.We disembarked for a 20 minute walk to the Metro and rode the green line and brown line to the light blue line to find our way back to Fili ( our station). Along the way we had numerous conversations with the locals, all speaking Russian, about which way to go to get on the right subway. They were all very concerned about us getting to our destination. Oh, how I wish that I had video taped a couple of those conversations. They were quite commical.
Map of the Moscow Metro
Metro Stations close to the city center have incredible art
One of the newest stations extended the blue line...ultra modern design.
One station commemorated war heros
This metro station's artwork was dedicated to the 1980 Olympics
One day we visited the Moscow City Sky Scrapers. There are six sky scrapers here. Three are completed and three are still in the building phase. Very modern and spaceage looking, a unique site against all the older outlying buildings. Moscow has a tremendous amount of tall buildings(6 to 25 floors). These skyscrapers, 65+ floors dwarf the older buildings. During Khruchev's reign in office, he started a massive construction of cheaply built and ugly apartment blocks changing the cityscape. At that time most people lived in communal flats. Khruchev's 1960's construction initiave allowed for citizens to have their own private apartment for the first time in their life .
Modern Skycraper
Modern Moscow...Skycraper City
We visited the Park and Museum of 1812 which was getting ready to celebrate its 200th anniversary in August. Napoleon brought troops from France to take over Moscow in a very bloody battle. Napoleon entered a deserted city of Moscow. Due to lack of provisions and the onset of winter, Napoleon was forced to retreat. His starving troops were picked off by flanking Russian troops with only one in twenty of his men making it back to Poland. The Russian army pursued him all the way back to Paris. Statues of heros of this war and a diarama of the famous battles made this an interesting place to visit.
We visited Victory Park. A huge venue of fountains, statues, and memorials that were constructed here after World War II under Stalin's rule. Other statues and memorials have been added as late as the 1990's. It is traditional for married couples to come here on their wedding day to lay flowers on the memorials and near the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers Eternal Flame. It happened to be a Saturday during our visit and there were numerous limos lining the streets that brought couples dressed in wedding attire to get pictures and to lay flowers on the gravesite. Interesting to watch.
Putting flowers on the Unknown Soldiers Grave
Limos lined the streets for the bridal parties
We also saw lots of roller blade clubs on the backside of the memorial skating through courses and following each other. Here we came upon a touching memorlal that was built commemorating the Jews who died in concentration camps. The sculpter who made this portrail did an excellent job. It was so moving that the city moved it from the front of the park to the back of the park because it caused many sad feelings for the visitors. Officials moved it to the back because they wanted the citizens to feel happy when visiting Victory Park, not saddened.
Larry and I spent a day inside the Kremlin. Can you imagine? We had always thought that the Kremlin was a massive Russian government building and that it would not be open to the public. It is actually is a small fortress that was first built during the 12th century sitting on top of Borovitsky Hill. Surrounded by a wall for protection, the fort contained the earliest settlement of Moscow while ceremonies and celebrations were held on the plaza outside now called Red Square. The first wall was built of wood. The Kremlin grew with the importance of the Moscow Princes by becoming the headquarters of the Russian Church in the 1320s. A white stone Kremlin was built in the 1360s with almost the same boundaries as it has today. At the end of the 15th century Ivan the Great had new walls and towers (most of which still stand) as well as the Kremlin's three great cathedrals built. The Kremlin wall has 19 distinctive towers...they look almost fairy tale quality.
After purchasing a ticket for 350 Rubbles each, we went through a medal detector and had our bag searched. On we walked up a long bricked walkway called the Trinity Bridge through the Trinity Tower where we passed the Arsenal. Larry had a picture taken with canons and canon balls before the police noticed....another couple who were posing there were not so lucky.
Police were on every corner and would blow their whistles to get your attention if you were in the wrong area or doing something that was illegal....like crossing the road in the wrong place. Anyway, the Arsenal was not open to the public.
We walked on past a massive building call the State Kremlin Palace also not open to the public.
We came to Ivan the Great Bell Tower...a 137 steps up the belfry where you can get to view of the Kremlin and beyond.
We stopped to take pictures of the infamous Tsar Cannon and the Tsar Bell...both are too big to serve their intended purpose.
We had a picnic lunch in the park called the Secret Garden. Glad that we packed a lunch because the only food sold in the Kremlin was ice cream and soda. Nice area with flowers blooming and tall trees....Very Scenic!
Gigantic Snowballs...hydranga
After lunch we followed the Kremlin Wall beside the Moscow River getting some sweeping views of the city. We entered Cathedral Square to see the Patriarch Palace, The Twelve Apostles' Church, The Church of the Deposition of the Robe of the Holy Virgin, The Annunciation Cathedral, The Archangel Cathedral, and The Assumption Cathedral...all having massive fresco paintings throughout...these are the burial sites of the patriarchs, tsars, and tsarinas of the past. Pictures were not allowed inside any of them. We came to the Armoury Chamber... a museum with displays of precious metalworks, paintings, jewelry, armour, weapons, gowns, and crowns...again, no pictures were allowed.
Assumption Cathedral, central place of worship where Russian Tsars
and Emperors were crowned
The Patriarch's Palace with the Twelve Apostles Church
built in 1653-55 for Patriarch Nikon
The annunciation Cathedral (1484-89) built as a home church
for the Great Moscow Princes and Russian Tsars
Our knowledge of Russia has grown tremendously! Larry and I have gotten to know and gained a deeper appreciation for the people. We found the Muscovites to be friendly. Many times they went out of their way to help us find our way around the city....even explaining in Russian. Thanks to our new friends Sergie, Daniel, Lola, Aleana, and David for all the information and time that they shared with us. I learned a lot of Russian history...Larry said it was a refresher course for him....being a social studies major long ago. We had a marvelous time traveling subways....something we were unaccustomed to doing being from Union Hall. HA! Did we get to see everything that we wanted to see? Russia is a massive country. By airplane it takes over nine hours to fly from the eastern boundaries to the west. With such a vast country there is always one more thing to venture out to see no matter how much you plan. That's why we never leave any place disappointed saying, " Oh we will get around to seeing that the next time we come."
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