Friday September 9th we arrived in Moscow at 6:30 in the evening. We had a taxi arranged to meet us at the station and take us to the Kitay Gorod Hotel located in the old part of the city next to Red Square and the Kremlin. Soon after checking in we headed out to see the famous Red Square and St. Basil Cathedral at night.
After less than a five minute walk, I felt the traveler's goose bumps appear as the famous sights I had seen so many times in books and on TV came into sight.
On Saturday, our first full day in Moscow we were a little disappointed to find that all roads leading to Red Square were blocked by military police. It appeared that only those with tickets were going through the secutity line. With the language barrier as thick as the road blocks, that is what we were left to assume.
We later found out the road blocks were all related to the Moscow Day events that were taking place. Apparently, it was the 869th year for this event and a huge celebration this year would make this the biggest one yet.
Unfortunatly for us it meant higher than normal levels of security, restrictions on certain places like Red Square and accessibility to Lenin's Mausoleum; one place I really wanted to go.
Moscow Day however did not prevent us from going to the Kremlin where we spent most of the afternoon. We were able to walk past the State Kremlin Palace. There was no sign of Vladimir Putin around; however, by followng strick rules of conduct we were able to see some incredible sights within the walled, park like, heart of Russian political power.
We were able to enter a number of Cathedrals, including Assumption, Annunciation and Archangel.
All these Cathedrals turned museums were stocked full of famous paintings and treasures of various historical significance. We stood under Ivan the Great's Bell tower and posed for pictures next to the Tsar's giant cannon and broken bell.
After we were all caught up on 800 years of Russian history, we made our way over to the Moscow Day celebrations which were taking over many of the city streets in the area. After learning a little today about the city's turbulent history, I figured they deserved to celebrate.
Finally the day was topped off with a massive display of fireworks.
On Sunday we were given a lot more freedom to go where we wanted even though we still had to go though metal detectors and have our bags constantly searched.
Once on Red Square we were surprised to see the line up of people in front of Lenin's Mausoleum which is normally closed on Sunday. We figured Lenin must make exceptions on Moscow Day weekend and consider the occasion as one worthy of taking extra visitors.
After our brief visit with Lenin we took a seat right in the middle of Red Square and paused for a moment to let it all sink in.
Then we moved on as far as Arlat, the very modern, trendy walking street. This high fashion area full of international brand names and restaurants was a big change from the older area of Kitay Gorod where we are staying. According to Jueun there was nothing like this in Moscow the last time she was here 12 years ago.
Later on we headed back to the hotel to grab a bite to eat and gather our stuff together before we took our taxi to Yaroslavskiy Station to start our Trans-Siberian Railway experience.
All aboard as the journey continues...
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