Day 2 18 August 2019

Day one of our tour started after a hearty breakfast, we met our private guide in the lobby at 10:00am sharp. On the agenda was our custom made Moscow City and Metro tour including visit to Eliseevsky Food Store and St. Basil’s Cathedral. The weather was showery but not cold – expected high of 21 degrees, so we borrowed a couple of umbrella’s from reception and hopped into the chauffeured car with our guide.

We were informed that a half marathon was on, blocking some streets so we would have to do some detours, and also that we would transfer the Eliseevsky visit to tomorrow as it aligned with the Cafe Pushkin visit better. Fine with us, so long as we get to do it!

Our guide was very good and spoke English well. Whilst we drove we were enriched with history and interesting tit bits. The streets around the city and our hotel which incidentally is very well positioned within easy walking distance of the Bolshoi and Red Square – are lined with many grand 19th century buildings. Most of these are from wealthy merchants and traders – that then got transferred to the state in the socialist era. In some respects it reminds me of some areas of Paris, including quaint boulevard in the middle of some streets (grass park like areas with trees, flowers, and some children’s play areas).

We stopped briefly at the Novodevichy Convent but most of it is under renovation so you couldn’t see much at all. That was a real shame as it looks very beautiful. Next stop was at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour – a white gold topped masterpiece of Byzantine art. There was a service going on but we were still allowed inside which was a real treat. Unfortunately you cant take photos, and I will download some later to add – but it was one of the most beautiful cathedrals we have visited. The colours are very Byzantine – predominantly duck egg blue, the Russian red (although its a brown red) apricot hued terracotta, white and lots of gold and gilded parts. A choir was singing making it atmospheric. It was incredibly moving experience and very special indeed.

Following this we travelled out of the centre up to the university and Sparrow hill lookout. The university is one of the Stalin 7 sister buildings – and also massive and impressive.

Next stop was Victory park which celebrates the victory over Napoleon and also WW2. There is a very good war museum there which we didn’t visit – but just had a quick walk towards the monument. We passed the worlds largest working flower clock and then you walk past a 1418 fountains that signify each day of war, up 5 terraces which signify the years of conflict to the obelisk which is 141.8 meters tall – signifying 1cm for each day. At the base of the obelisk is St George slaying the dragon which has Nazi inscriptions. We are starting to see that the Russians love huge parks and monuments. It’s a pity they don’t invest as much in public toilets – just some horrid portaloo things that had me nearly dry retching and wishing I had bought a shee-wee. In the absence of that and the fact that there is no way I will sit on a seat like that I practiced Asian style and aimed for the best. To my new readers – sorry about the detail but toileting is very different overseas to what we are brought up with and – well a significant learning we have found.

Back to the tour, we were then dropped off by our driver at Red Square. Originally a market place and named red – being the Russian word for ‘beautiful’, this is now the home of a number of buildings, Lenin’s mausoleum, the expensive Gum (said like German ouw sound) department store and the iconic St Basil’s Cathedral. Unfortunately they were also doing renovations around and setting up for a big Military tattoo celebration so a lot of the square was cordoned off and it made the view and access to St Basil’s very restricted.

Our guide asked if we were ready for a coffee and snack which we were, so we went through Gum and all the high end designer shops to the food hall area. We chose a simple local style pancake place and shared a savoury and sweet pancake and a green borscht soup with sorrel leaves and sour cream. It cost about $17 all up including 2 coffees, was simple and nice and filled us up for more sight seeing.

When we exited Gum and got our first sight of the bright coloured soft serve twist topped cathedral. Wow – of course it is just like the pictures and what one expects and wants to go and see. She does not disappoint. Once again we got to skip the line which is a little thrill in itself.

Inside its not very big, but made up of 8 separate churches. The pastel faded paintings that adorn the walls are beautiful and eastern patterns punctuate the walls and ceilings in between the religious stories. We learnt a bit about St Basil who was considered a bit crazy as all he wore was a loin cloth – winter through summer. He was very prophetic and accurately so to the point he was both revered and feared as he had a knack of predicting someone would drop dead the next day.

There are some narrow and winding steps to the second level and that great little work out was rewarded by an acapella group singing in a tiny chapel room. It reminded me of the singing in Croatia – just love that particular style and find it emotionally powerful.

Our final excursion for the day was the renowned Moscow Metro with its uber decorated stations which is a wonderful and slightly crazy concept.

Moscow has a great metro system and for some reason whoever decided to make the stations grand affairs each with a different theme. Not all the stations are like this, but certainly most of the centre ring, and a few outer ones. We easily spent an hour and a bit exploring with our guide the top ones. To begin you only have to pay 55R for a ticket and so long as you don’t exit the metro you can go all day (our tickets prepaid). You enter the metro by going down down down a fast escalator where you have to lean backwards and engage your core to balance. You stand to the right here, and hang on and for me I tried not to look down or I got a little woozy feeling. Some smartie pants run down. On the way up you have to lean forward – it looks hilarious.

The stations are totally unique from other countries – everything is large, open and airy (for underground). Some have chandeliers, others bronze statues (70 of them) marble, granite, mosaic, paintings on ceilings, all depicting different themes and stories. It was a real highlight for both of us and something we could have done longer. It made me feel like the Beauty and the Beast tv series or like Phantom of the Opera … a whole different world down there. Till the scream of the every 2 minutes trains came through and brought me back to the present.

The metro was a real highlight which had us buzzing as we were pointed in the direction of the 15 minute walk home. It was early evening by the time we got there, so after a freshen up we set off for dinner, choosing again to go to the Georgian place from the night before as we enjoyed it so much and it was so close – had done enough walking for the day.

Our meal was even better than the first night and this time we did not over-order. We shared a fried eggplant salad which was amazing – with tomatoes and a sweet pomegranate and honey dressing. The eggplant chips were crispy on the outside and fluffy soft in the middle. OMG Nommy. Then we shared a type of borek which was thin flat bread folded over and fried with a delicate lamb, herb and vegetable filling. Again delicious and light. For our main we shared a lamb kofta flatbread kebab – which was smokey bbq flavour on the outside and so juicy it ran down our chin. The best I have ever had the pleasure of devouring.

We wandered home very relaxed and happy – trying to process the whole Russian-Moscow experience and thinking this place is really growing on us.