The Kremlin

The group decided to forgo the bus ride to the Kremlin and instead we walked the few blocks. I would have preferred the bus, having walked plenty at the market yesterday, and knowing that there would be plenty of walking AT the Kremlin. But I didn't want to be the only one on the bus.

The Kremlin itself was rather boring. We saw the outside of a Communist Party congress hall, which is now used for concerts. I'm sure there is "never" any political meetings held there. We also toured a couple of 15th century churches, one where the Tsars were coranated, and another where they were buried.

The armoury is the part of the Kremlin where the crown jewels, along with gifts from foreign ambassadors to the royal family, royal carriages and clothing is displayed. Inside, visitors are required to wear shower caps on their feet. I'm sure the intent is to protect the floors, but I expected to cause more damage when they caused me to slip, and my huge butt went crashing through the floor. It didn't happen, fortunately, but I had to walk around like an old lady to make sure. The exhibits were somewhat interesting, but my feet were killing me by this point, and we were running late for our lunch reservations, so we were rushed through and shown a few things the guide considered highlights.

Lunch was served at a traditional Russian restaurant. Appetizers was caviar and pancakes, not as good as we had at the hotel for breakfast. To drink, we were introduced to Mors, a common drink similar to cranberry juice. We were also given some vodka. I had a sip and didn't like it, but it went great with the Mors! I had an excellent beef fillet and UG had the sturgeon. The portions were large for a dinner serving. Excessive for lunch. We were also entertained by a quartet of traditionally dressed Russian singers.

After lunch, we walked through Red Square and went into St Basil's Cathedral. This is actually 10 churches built on a single foundation, the smallest being St Basil's. All of them were too small for services, they would have been used for individual worship. But the architecture was amazing. We then walked through GUM, the imperial era mall which became a soviet food distribution center, and is now a high end shopping center, complete with Louis Vuitton and Benetton stores. Remember Benetton, the trendy name brand from the 80s? They are apparently still cool here in Russia, because there are a lot of those stores. No purchases were made. Back at the hotel, we had a couple of hours to rest and prepare for dinner. UG and I fell asleep, and woke up 5 minutes before we were supposed to be at dinner. We threw some clothes on, brushed our hair and ran out for another fancy meal. When we got downstairs, most of the group had already left. Just one of the hosts was waiting for us. But the restaurant was next door to the one last night, and the rest of the group was just finishing checking their coats when we arrived.

Dinner was held at the Bolshoi Restaurant, behind the theatre. We both had chicken, and for dessert we had cheesecake, and vodka. Beluga vodka is the first I have been able to drink straight.