Monday, April 21, 2008


Wow, 24 hours in Moscow and we took advantage of the time. I couldn't sleep very well and just went ahead and got out of bed at about 5 am. Got ready and then took a walk. Talked to some Russian (Police? Military?) and asked to get a picture with them. No sense of humor, no pictures. I finally knocked on Dave's door about 7:30 and told him to quit wasting daylight.
We went to breakfast, some kind of hash, toast, strong coffee, cheese, & yogurt. At least if filled us up.

We were free until about 6:15 pm so we walked to Red Square. It sure is smaller than you imagine it to be from the old news video of the tanks and military parading through there. Don't get me wrong, it's incredible to be standing there, but just smaller than you imagine. St. Basils cathedral is at one end of the square and it is just incredible.
We paid to take the tour, one price (about 100 rubles) to tour, 130 rubles to tour and take photos, 150 rubles to tour and take video. Capitalism, got to love it. Inside the cathedral is amazing, the paintings and history of the place, you can just smell it. There was an acapella choir singing in one of the main rooms with a huge dome way above, the acoustics were unbelievable, when we first got close we thought it was being piped in from a sound system. I didn't pay to video inside but had to sneak a little bit of the choir, just wonderful.
We spent a lot of time inside the cathedral and when we were done the weather turned even colder and started raining harder. We decided to check out the largest mall inRussia, (GUM) it borders one side of Red Square and was once offices for the government. The mall has over 1000 shops and is quite grand. An archway glass ceiling that is similar to the galleria in Houston. A slice of pizza and a beer later and we were on our way to more walking around.
Opening cerimonies and a movie, then a late dinner and then home at 1:30 am it was a long day. Gotta cut this off for now. Stay tuned.

Comrades Chris & Dave.