Last night, we had the captain’s dinner with champagne.
We landed in Moscow around 1:00 p.m. and began our tour under cloudy skies. The port is about 20 km from Moscow, which can take two hours with traffic, but since it was Sunday, there was little traffic. Unfortunately, there was a bike marathon scheduled, so much of downtown Moscow was closed off. We were afraid we wouldn’t be able to get to Red Square, but had our fingers crossed.
On our way into town, we passed the castle Peter the Great built as a stopping place on his way to Moscow from St. Petersburg. We learned that Russians are a mixture of Slavic and Finish peoples, and that Moscow was founded or first mentioned in 1147. We learned that the word Czar came from Ceasar, the word red means beautiful (so Red Square is beautiful square), and Kremlin means fortress.
We passed the skyscrapers of downtown. My favorite is the Tower of Evolution, inspired by the DNA double helix.
We stopped at Moscow State University, on Sparrow Hills, one of 7 sister skyscrapers built under Stalin. From the vantage of the hill, the weather over the city looked daunting.
Next, we stopped at Novodevichy Convent, where the sister of Peter the Great was confined and where she organized a rebellion against him while he was in Europe after he became emperor. When Peter the Great got word of the rebellion, he returned home and put over 2 thousand conspirators to death in two days.
Next to the convent is a brass sculpture donated by Barbara Bush in the 90s based on Robert Mcklusky’s book Make Way for the Ducklings.
old and new
When we received word that we would be able to make our way to Red Square, the weather had cleared. On our way downtown, we passed a mixture of old and new architecture.
old KGB building
We passed the former headquarters of the KGB, now disbanded.
By the time we reached Red Square, the sky was clear and blue.The spires of St. Basils Cathedral were not always so colorful. Originally, they were white with silver domes.
Gum department store
History museum
We learned that the onion domes are an adaptation of the domes of Hagia Sophia in what was then Constantinople, but the snow of Russian winters collapsed the domes. When they were elongated into the onion dome, they withstood the winters better, and the onion dome became the symbol of the Greek Orthodox church all over the world.
Church of Virgin of Kazan
We did a tour of Moscow by night, which included a tour of the subways. Each station is a different work of art.
One was dedicated to artists, musicians and engineers.
One station was dedicated to Bellaruse.
Another was dedicated to Ukraine and celebrated the riches of the country when in fact the people were starving.
Red Square at night is quite gorgeous.
Gum dept. store
After Red Square, we visited Victory Park, which commemorates the war dead, primarily of WW II. The spire (not lit that night) and the red fountains honor the number of days Russia was involved in the war and the blood spilled by the Russian people.
