Back to Moscow!

This time in Moscow, we had a few more days and got to see more of the city, including seeing the Red Square during the day. 

So many people

The inside of St. Basil's church was almost as impressive as the outside. The whole church was built like a maze and there was a different theme in almost every room.

The architecture of the Russian churches was fascinating for me. Partly because this was the picture I had in my mind of Moscow, but also just because the architecture itself was very unique. Whenever we would see a church walking around the city, you would find me happily shooting pictures of them.

There were so many people in Moscow, we ended up having the best times when we went out at night, just because it was quieter and more empty. One of the days, we went to this newly built park, right next to the Red Square. It was kind of weird to be in a park where you saw more people than nature. Every single one of the park trails were packed, and we were moved along, kind of like being in a subway full of people. As we went through, in the middle of the park, they have this huge glass ceiling shaped like a mushroom where there is actual greenery that people aren't allowed on.

Seeing the city by night, we ran into a lot of fun things.

Vlad, his sister and I

Statue Garden: Wolf in sheep's clothing

Carousel near Arbat Street

We stayed at this little hotel right off of Arbat Street, which the art district/party place. It was perfect because we were right in the center of the city and it was so close to all of the good sights.

The church from across the Moscow River

One night we found a concert going on, we had to check out. It was a Russian band called Radio Tapok. They took American songs, a lot of classic hits like Red Hot Chili Peppers and Blink 182 and some recent hits and reproduced the same songs with completely Russian lyrics.

I have to admit, it was fun and they were pretty decent

There were plenty of other surprises like finding pockets of nature in the city and the trees all starting to turn to fall colors.

And finding some interesting architecture and murals mixed in with the city buildings. 

After spending time in Moscow, I found that it's actually really similar to many other European cities I've seen.  But, it does have it's unique aspects. There's probably a little less English and it's definitely got a bit of communist 'flair'; there is a lot of tribute to their history as part of the Soviet Union and from WWII. 

There was a lot of construction under way though. They are really trying to update the city. You could see the work being done to restore the historic buildings.

In general, going around the city, we never felt unsafe and you could see there is plenty of tourism. The infrastructure was great, with metro stations to get around everywhere and walkways and roads that accommodated so many people. It was interesting though, to see billboards in English there, disputing claims by the US that they interfered with our elections... ha.

All in all, an amazing time! Can't wait until I go back (when it's warmer hopefully).