Wandering In the City

It's hard to believe our time in Moscow is nearly over. It's now Friday morning and we're sitting in the hotel room waiting for the taxi to take us to the station to catch a train to St Petersburg. We're all a little tired as we had another day of walking around the city yesterday.

We started out fairly early as I wanted to see the inside of St Basil's church before all the tourist groups arrived. I didn't check the time that it opened though and we were too early, and also very cold (about 4C), so we thought we'd see the Bolshoi Theatre. Cameron was navigating with the help of Google maps on the phone and took us on 2km+ walk around the blocks, just so we could end up at the theatre, not 800m from where we were originally standing.

Very cold, and with Matt's hands turning blue, we went back to St Basil's and wandered around inside. The church was very pretty with frescoes and flowery designs covering the walls and ceilings. (I paid for the audio guide which was not worth it, as it only told a little of the history and mainly focused on why the church was designed and painted in the manner that it was).

And great views.

We finished looking and again ventured out into the cold (not far, because we went straight inside GUM and headed up to the cafeteria where Cam and Matt had ham and cheese crepes and I found the baked potatoes. Then it was coffee and cake and back outside to the metro. We decided to go on the Radisson Blu River Cruise where we could see the sights of the city but still stay warm, and enjoy a drink.

The cruise was well and truly worth it. A lovely 2 1/2 hours of relaxation and great scenery.

We left the boat and wandered through Gorky Park

and back down to the Metro so we could go to Arbat St, where Ludmila said had a good assortment of souvenirs. We spent a couple of hours going in and out of many different souvenir shops selling the same items, as Matt decided he'd like something with a bear on it. Finally, he found a magnet and
after reaching the end of the street, the 2 navigators directed us to Mu Mu's for dinner.

With sore feet and very tired, we were going back towards our hotel, when Cam decided he wanted to see what was behind this door that we kept passing (looked like a shoe shop). It was actually a three storey underground shopping centre with a range of stores from Quiksilver and Uggs of Australia to Victoria Secrets and some other high end shops. (Not cheap but entertaining).

We made it back to our hotel around 9.30, and it was straight to bed. Which is why I am so happy just sitting on the bed writing this. (After all my whinging about having a day off, I am really going to appreciate this one. My legs need a rest).

This afternoon, St Petersburg.