The Kremlin and Red Square

Woke up here to a beautiful day, top of 17C, bit chilly but no rain. Only sad thing was I'm still on WA time, so it was 4am. Stayed in bed until nearly 6, when everyone else woke up and then it was down to breakfast. Very impressive. I had a fruit danish which I shared with Cam, whilst Matt had a chocolate croissant. Then it was off to the Kremlin. Because we're staying in the city, it was only a 10 minute walk.

We bought our tickets at the Alexander Park entrance, as we wanted to see the Armoury, where many 

of Russia's treasures are held (needs a special ticket, only available 45 minutes before a scheduled entry time). In the armoury was all the treasures of Russia, (many of which they had hidden deep in the Kremlin during the war, so they were safe from the Nazis). They also sold off a lot after the war when Russia was broke, so their collection isn't as extensive as what it could have been, but it is still amazing and is a recommended hour to hour and a half tour. They have about 8 halls filled with gold and silver gifts to previous tsars and leaders of Russia, armour, weapons, carriages, thrones and clothing. Well worth the visit.

We also paid extra to see the Diamond Fund, a collection of the Crown Jewels of Russia. It also had a collection of gold, platinum, diamonds and other precious gemstones that were mined in Russia, the biggest of which was a 36kg lump of gold called the Triangle. Absolutely stunning collection of jewellery, tiaras and crowns. (Sorry no photos are permitted in the Armoury)

We then up the hill to Cathedral Square and spent the next 2 hours wandering in and out of the cathedrals, prompting Matt to say "not another church ". But they were all stunning, decorated with frescos all over the walls and ceilings. 

The Archangel Cathedral (directly below) was actually used as a burial vault for Moscow Princes and Tsars. The vault of Ivan the Terrible and his 2 sons, is one of the vaults. Pretty amazing.

Annunciation Cathedral

Then it was down the hill, out the gates and back to our hotel for lunch. (Now, to get lunch we had to make our first excursion into a Russian supermarket and look for the food that we recognised to make ham and cheese sandwiches and milk for coffees).It wasn't a very successful shopping trip. We ended up with smoked turkey, plastic cheese, bread and fermented milk. So smoked turkey and cheese sandwiches, no coffee. Tasted okay though, so wasn't too bad.

After lunch we ventured out again to Red Square, on the other side of the Kremlin. Lenin's Mausoleum was closed as it was after lunch, and we forgot Matt's student card, so we didn't go into 

St Basil's Church. We took lots of photos around the square, and then went into the GUM shopping centre, (full of department stores)

In the middle of the centre, there was a huge fountain.

   

And near the fountain was an ice cream cart. (We were a bit concerned because we had no idea how to tell the guy what flavour we wanted, but as luck happened, he spoke English).

We then left there and walked back to the hotel, passing by Redemption Gates, the entrance to Red Square.

Later in the evening we went out again for dinner to MuMu, a Russian cafeteria chain, where you take a tray and choose your food as you pass up the lane. Cam and Matt ended up with spaghetti, whereas I had meatballs with a tomato sauce. Matt and I were brave enough to go back and pick dessert, Apple pie and what Matt thought was mud cake, but was actually like a big chocolate royal royal (marshmallow with a biscuit base, covered in a thin layer of chocolate). Cam wanted a beer, but didn't know how to ask for one, and it's a bit hard to point to that, so he went without. Then it was back home, and another early night. Hoping to adjust to this Timezone soon.