A Tourist in the Kremlin

We arrived in Moscow station around 5:30 in the morning, as we looked out the window of our cabin we were greeted with the sight of a light dusting of snow covering the ground.  When we had left Moscow a few days before it has been nearly T-shirt weather and after being very cold in St. Petersburg and Novgorod we were hopping for a little warmth in Moscow.  We were not feeling that lucky when we arrived.

Svetlana, our Servas host, has left directions on how to get to her house so after a metro ride across town, we had a 10 minute walk to her flat.  We had barely covered introductions when Alexey showed up with the bags we had left at his house.  We all sat down in the kitchen and had some tea and talked about our plans for the rest of our time in Moscow and how much we enjoyed St. Petersburg.  After Alexey left to go to work, Michelle and I just relaxed a little after our overnight train ride.

When we decided to head out we were going for the Russian Art Gallery, which is supposed to be the best example of Russian art in the world.  However on the metro ride there we started talking and decided that we were both a little "arted" out after the Hermitage and Novgorod.  So we decided grab a bite to eat then to head instead to the Russian History Museum and St. Basil's Cathedral in Red Square.  When we got there we were disappointed to learn that both are closed on Tuesday.

By now we are on Plan C for the day so we headed to the Armory inside the Kremlin (Russian for Citadel) to see the collection of treasures amassed by the Tzars over the centuries.  Our ticket said we had a 4:30 entry time, but the lady we bought it from said we could get in when ever we wanted.  So we headed over anxious to get out of the cold.  However, when we got there the door was blocked off, so we sat around waiting.  We saw another group of people entry through the exit and headed down there to check it out.  Apparently they had closed the entrance and expected everyone to enter via the exit, so we had sat for 10 minutes out in the cold for nothing.

Inside the Armory we got audio guides and listened to the stories about some of the many treasures housed here.  There were bibles with covers containing over 2,000 diamonds, thrones with more than 20,000 diamonds and more other precious stones than I can remember.  Then there was an entire collection of carriages and sleighs for the Czars family, some of them were amazing with the decoration and detail on them.  Others had amazing engineering features to provide a smoother ride on the rutted dirt roads.  But I think what impressed me most was the collections of gifts.  There were incredible works from all over the world.  Including countless things made by the Fabrige company famous for its decorated eggs.  I was amazed by the intricacy of some of the clocks that they had been given with multiple movements to mark the passing of time.  They were truly works of art.

The next day we again headed to the Kremlin, but this time we went to go see the churches that are located inside the walls.  You enter the Kremlin through one of the old gates that bridged the river that once served as a moat, but has now been covered up and turned into a park.  Once inside the Bell Tower of Ivan the Terrible is the first thing that grabs your attention as it is the tallest structure and has an easily visible golden dome.  You are not allowed to climb to the top, but there was an interesting collection of jeweled items from Southern Russia and Persia.

After this we walked through the main square where there are different Cathedrals built in celebration of a number of historical events in Russian history.  The one that served as the private cathedral of the Czar has the most interesting story.  Apparently a gallery was added around the entire structure when the Czar was banned from entering the church for divorcing his wife, so he had a gallery built where is could watch mass but still not be in the church.  Unfortunately this one was closed so we only saw it from the outside.

The Cathedral of the Arch Angel Gabrielle was covered from floor to ceiling in old frescoes depicting saints and other important people from the bible.  It was interesting because all of this was covered in white for centuries when the walls were whitewashed.  It was only recently discovered that there was all this ancient decoration still there.

Once we had seen all the churches and the little bit of the palace we were allowed inside, we again tried our luck with Red Square.  Today both the Russian History Museum and St. Basil's were open since we had checked the previous day.  Unfortunately it was the day that the Russian military practice for their upcoming parade so the entire square was closed.  Just our luck.

Rather than try to see anything else, Michelle decided she needed a new pair of jeans since the ones she had were starting to sprout holes everywhere.  We checked out a number of stores in the mall near Red Square, and finally found a pair at a "decent" price.  That night we headed back to Svetlana's house to try some typical Russian food.  We talked as we ate and ended up sitting around the table playing games and talking.  It was a nice relaxing way to spend the evening.

Our last day we finally got a chance to see the inside of St Basil's cathedral.  However after three previous attempts it did not live up to the expectations.  The lavish exterior decorations lead you to believe the inside will be similar, but in reality it was a series of small rooms with modest decoration, mostly painted walls.  It seemed very disconnected like they kept building more onto an existing building, but that is not at all how it was built.  The Czar who ordered it asked for a full scale model which was built in wood then covered in stone for the final product.

After this we went to the Russian History museum which was more like a natural history museum.  There was very little in English so much of the what was being done was lost on the two of us.  The interesting bit of the museum was the upper floor rooms which were built in the style of famous buildings from around Russia.  It was very interesting way to see some of the Russian styles without visiting all of Russia.

The next day we slept in and got our stuff put packed up, and said goodbye to Svetlana and Russia as we headed for warmer weather in the Middle East.

Bill