Hi everyone,
Moscow is a wicked city! We have just spent four nights here and have had a really fun time.
Moscow is more like what you expect a Russian city to be. It isn't beautiful like St Petersburg, less people speak English and the people look more like ordinary people and not Russian supermodels( I didn't get to mention last message how the people of St Petersburg are very well dressed. Almost every girl is very tall very beautiful and manage to walk this massive city full on uneven paths in incredibly high spiked heeled knee high boots).It is grey and a little dirty and you do have to watch out for scams by the police and locals- especially in Red Square.
Four days has definately been enough to do all the sites. We have been to Red Square, The Kremlin, Lenin's Tomb, The Red October Chocolate Factory, The Arbat, St Basils Cathederal and several other very beautiful churches too. We are a little over site seeing at the moment so we have given the KGB museam a miss. I have loved everything we have seen, though Lenin's Tomb was a bit eerie (especially since the sombre mood was interupted by polka music played by the nearby ice skating rink) and I am not quite sure that is was really him.
Moscow, Like St Petersburg is full of rules. There is always a certain way to enter a building and a certain way to walk through a building which is not always the most logical way but they ensure that you do it that way. I think I have spent a fare part of the trip being shunted from one entrance to another than actually being inside the building I have come to visit.
One of the highlights of Moscow was seeing an opera to the Bolshoi theatre. As the new theatre is currently being renovated, we were in the new Bolshoi which itself is an incredibly beautiful and intimate theatre.The curches here too are beautiful with their tear shaped roofs.
Another highlight has been the people we met at the hostel. We were lucky to meet a great bunch of people while we were here, including the hostel staff themselves (if you come to moscow definately look into staying at the Transiberian Hostel). We have had a great time seeing the sites with them, learning the correcrt way to drink vodka (yes, there are rules on how to do this aswell) and celebrating the Russian Orthodox new year. There have also been a few odd people at the hostel as well, but I tell you about them another time.
The weather is still very warm (well 0-5°c)and sadly no snow. Hopefully our next stop will deliver the goods in that area.
Tonight we will be on our way to Mongolia and will be on the actual transiberian railway; very very exciting!. We will on the train for 5 nights before we reach our first stop, so I am asuming novelity will probably wear off when we board it again to go to China.
take care
tanya and anthony x
