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life_of_glamour(Note: Part of a series of entries from my handwritten travel journal.)
Friday, 26 July 2013
Today was the big Red Square/Kremlin tour with the group and guide. We got to go inside St. Basil's Cathedral (btw, in Russian it's not Basil, it's Vasily), which I didn't even know you could do! First we drove through the city and saw the Kremlin from across the river.
I can't get over how COOL this place looks, from every angle.
Then we got to St. Basil's.
It's all divided up into little chapels. I keep being surprised by how tall the Orthodox churches are on the inside - they go all the way up to the domes and every inch is painted with frescoes of saints, angels, and biblical scenes.
Apparently today was also "get your bride up on a forklift day" in Moscow.
After that we were turned loose for lunch. Cathyn and I grabbed a selection of savory and sweet pies and walked around, found a kvass stand and got a glass each. Here are some great buildings I saw out walking around:
Today was also the day that we saw some guys dressed up in costumes and bearing a remarkable to resemblance to certain historical figures, right at the entrance to Red Square. The deal was if you wanted to take a picture with them you had to give them some money, and since we're still somewhat new to Rubles we might have completely overpaid for this picture. I regret nothing!! NOTHING!
(Side note: In a weird fit of following the rules which shocked me, Cathyn, who is usually a total scofflaw, only snapped this one picture, which I found odd considering we were paying for it - I figured he'd be snapping away as I stood there so we'd be sure to have one that turned out. Luckily, this one turned out. Most valuable picture in the entire set of around 1000 pictures we took in Russia!)
And then we finally went into the Kremlin, after standing in line for security and going through a metal detector. It's surprising how much free space there is inside those walls. It's kind of airy and peaceful compared to the rest of the city. There's an 18th century armory surrounded by about 400 cannons taken from Napoleon's army after their defeat in the Patriotic War of 1812. There's a modern building that's a stark contrast to all the older structures:
They have a giant cannon that's never been shot called the Tsar Cannon.
And the Tsar Bell, a giant bell that cracked before ever being rung. They seem inordinately proud of these broken and non-functional items.
And there's a big square that's sided in all directions by onion-dome churches. We went into on and it was extremely similar to the ones we'd seen yesterday at the convent - very tall inside and covered in frescoes and gold-painted icons.
A few quiet corners in among the churches.
After the first church, everybody else went into another one to tour it while we waited because, honestly, we'd seen enough churches at that point. That's right - day 3 and we've seen inside of enough Russian churches. They're all pretty much the same - frescoes, icon screens with more gold than you can shake a stick at, and crowds of people milling about inside.
Instead we sat on some steps, enjoyed the view of the square, and took cutie-pie pics.
And then, finally, to the Kremlin Armory Museum to see the crown jewels, including the Cap of Monomakh and several other Tsarish crowns. No pictures allowed, unfortunately. Also many gilt carriages of the Tsars, lots of armor, gold and silver dishes, Faberge eggs (the real ones), and a collection of wedding and coronation gowns, mostly 18th century.
And then we said goodbye to the Kremlin.
We headed back to the boat for the Captain's Welcome Dinner. But on the way I snapped this pic, as I thought it was a nice image that encapsulated a lot about Moscow.
At the Captains dinner we sat with the new president of my alma mater and her husband, who doesn't speak English yet (but apparently has about 4 or 5 other languages, none of which I speak as he doesn't do German either). She is very nice and enjoyable company and I felt a little bit abashed when I admitted I haven't been back to Mills in about 15 years. I promised to take Cathyn out for a tour and she invited me to let her know when we'd be coming so she could walk with us. That was kind of unexpected and definitely NOT something the last president would have said!
Friday, 26 July 2013
Today was the big Red Square/Kremlin tour with the group and guide. We got to go inside St. Basil's Cathedral (btw, in Russian it's not Basil, it's Vasily), which I didn't even know you could do! First we drove through the city and saw the Kremlin from across the river.
I can't get over how COOL this place looks, from every angle.
Then we got to St. Basil's.
It's all divided up into little chapels. I keep being surprised by how tall the Orthodox churches are on the inside - they go all the way up to the domes and every inch is painted with frescoes of saints, angels, and biblical scenes.
Apparently today was also "get your bride up on a forklift day" in Moscow.
After that we were turned loose for lunch. Cathyn and I grabbed a selection of savory and sweet pies and walked around, found a kvass stand and got a glass each. Here are some great buildings I saw out walking around:
Today was also the day that we saw some guys dressed up in costumes and bearing a remarkable to resemblance to certain historical figures, right at the entrance to Red Square. The deal was if you wanted to take a picture with them you had to give them some money, and since we're still somewhat new to Rubles we might have completely overpaid for this picture. I regret nothing!! NOTHING!
(Side note: In a weird fit of following the rules which shocked me, Cathyn, who is usually a total scofflaw, only snapped this one picture, which I found odd considering we were paying for it - I figured he'd be snapping away as I stood there so we'd be sure to have one that turned out. Luckily, this one turned out. Most valuable picture in the entire set of around 1000 pictures we took in Russia!)
And then we finally went into the Kremlin, after standing in line for security and going through a metal detector. It's surprising how much free space there is inside those walls. It's kind of airy and peaceful compared to the rest of the city. There's an 18th century armory surrounded by about 400 cannons taken from Napoleon's army after their defeat in the Patriotic War of 1812. There's a modern building that's a stark contrast to all the older structures:
They have a giant cannon that's never been shot called the Tsar Cannon.
And the Tsar Bell, a giant bell that cracked before ever being rung. They seem inordinately proud of these broken and non-functional items.
And there's a big square that's sided in all directions by onion-dome churches. We went into on and it was extremely similar to the ones we'd seen yesterday at the convent - very tall inside and covered in frescoes and gold-painted icons.
A few quiet corners in among the churches.
After the first church, everybody else went into another one to tour it while we waited because, honestly, we'd seen enough churches at that point. That's right - day 3 and we've seen inside of enough Russian churches. They're all pretty much the same - frescoes, icon screens with more gold than you can shake a stick at, and crowds of people milling about inside.
Instead we sat on some steps, enjoyed the view of the square, and took cutie-pie pics.
And then, finally, to the Kremlin Armory Museum to see the crown jewels, including the Cap of Monomakh and several other Tsarish crowns. No pictures allowed, unfortunately. Also many gilt carriages of the Tsars, lots of armor, gold and silver dishes, Faberge eggs (the real ones), and a collection of wedding and coronation gowns, mostly 18th century.
And then we said goodbye to the Kremlin.
We headed back to the boat for the Captain's Welcome Dinner. But on the way I snapped this pic, as I thought it was a nice image that encapsulated a lot about Moscow.
At the Captains dinner we sat with the new president of my alma mater and her husband, who doesn't speak English yet (but apparently has about 4 or 5 other languages, none of which I speak as he doesn't do German either). She is very nice and enjoyable company and I felt a little bit abashed when I admitted I haven't been back to Mills in about 15 years. I promised to take Cathyn out for a tour and she invited me to let her know when we'd be coming so she could walk with us. That was kind of unexpected and definitely NOT something the last president would have said!
