Moscow

Arrived bleary eyed at 5.55am to find metro station closed, managed to purchase a street map and decipher it enough to get to the next station and on to our hostel – Chocolate (one complimentary chocolate on the pillow). The metro is amazing, very ostentatiously decorated.

It was very exciting to be in Red Square following the route of all those nuclear missile parades. Unbelievably for us, we were there so early that nothing was open yet.

The most exciting (and slightly scary) part was walking through Lenin’s dark tomb where the many guards usher you through quickly by snapping their fingers and shushing anyone who speaks. Lenin looks unreal, all lit up so his head glows like a lamp. Maybe this is because his brain was removed and studied at a secret institute for years.

The highlight of the day was the outrageous goose stepping by the changing of the guards. Inside the Kremlin we saw a great collection of Faberge eggs and other treasures, 16th century royal carriages (including a mini one for children that was pulled by dwarves), and a massive pair of boots owned by Peter the Great.

To complete the list of dead Russians we saw Stalin’s grave behind Lenin’s tomb and made a trip to a cemetery full of famous people. Unfortunately the woman selling maps was on her tea break and so the only grave we could find was Boris Yeltsin’s.

Yeltsin’s grave.

Food report: Russian restaurants serve very good food but nothing exciting enough to photograph.

Sarah was impressed with the soviet architecture.

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Food Pic #4. (bit of a cheat) Elaborate decor of local supermarket.