Finally we have internet access!. Our excursion to Moscow is about to end and we are at the airport ready to return home. As our wonderful guide Marina (thanks, Ngaire and Red October) said, St. Petersburg is beautiful but Moscow is impressive. 3 days allows enough time to appreciate many of the major sites. We arrived and took an intoductory city tour stopping at Sparrow heights to take pictures of the city. We stopped at Moscow University, one of the seven large skyscrapers built by Stalin and did some souvenier shopping across from the University. A glimpse of the Kremlin and Red Square before checking in at the hotel. Not surpisingly, the city is sprawling, traffic is a nightmare and it is not very friendly to walkers, so hotel location is key. Our choice of the Savoy, a small luxury boutique property, was excellent as we were within easy walking distance of Red Square. Second day we switched plans and took a detailed tour of the Kremin and Red Squre with a dedicated guide, Anna, who was also excellent. The Armory Museum with it’s collection of incredible jewels, 10 Faberge eggs, etc. is not to be missed. Red Square was most impressive though it was bisected by stands being assembled for an upcoming celebration. GUM is now a huge shopping megapolis directly bordering the square. Lunch at a local restaurant, then Bert and I explored Arbat street with hordes of Japanese tourists souvenier shopping, back to Red Sqare then the hotel to rest up for dinner. The last day, we visited Sergiev Posad, a site very holy to the Russian people and got a fairly good understanding of the Russian Orthodox religion. This was very special as school starts here on 9/1 so there were large groups of young children to photograph. Icons from the 12th century were amazing. After lunch, a visit to Tetyrakov Gallety of Russian art with our guide Marina who is very knowledgable and made the art come alive for us. Eugene will be happy to know that my restauarnt choices were very good. Prices are high as I expected, but we had a wonderful time. Weather cooperated, just one blustery day with a little rain, otherwise nice skys with temps in the 60s. I will post pictures after returning home-Red Square at night was incredible. Back to reality tomorrow-if all our flights connect as promised, we get back by 11:30 tonight.
