Meeting Muscovites

On the morning of the 29th we went on a tour. One of my favourite things to do when visiting a huge city is to take a walking tour.  You are always guaranteed to hear some interesting stories, meet some fellow tourists and its really nice to walk around for a few hours without worrying about looking at a map!

In my research about walking tours in Moscow I had come across a reference to a group called the Moscow Greeters. The Moscow Greeters are a network of Muscovites who are interested in showing their city to foreigners and offer free tours by appointment. So I e-mailed their website and arranged with the respondant that she would meet us in our hotel lobby and take us on a tour of the city. 

I had expected that we would be met by a retiree but instead we were surprised to be met by a young and enthusiastic woman who works as a journalist at the main Russian television station. She informed us that she had arranged for us to meet another Moscow Greeter and soon we were walking around a residential area of Moscow having fascinating discussions with Tatiana and Vera about life in Russia, politics, the recent protests and answering their many questions about life in Europe and Canada. It quickly became apparent the ladies were not very interested in telling us much about Moscow sights but we had a great time getting to know them and enjoyed seeing a different part of the city that we wouldn’t have found on our own. 

Another view of the Kremlin as we approached it from a different part of the city.

On the left, a chocolate factory, on the right, the Peter the Great monument, huge and quite strange.  Apparently most Russians hate it. 

Lovely rustic looking wooden church, reminded me of scenes from Dr Zhivago (minus the buildings everywhere!)

In front of the newly rebuilt Cathedral of Christ the Saviour with one of our tour guides.

We ended our "tour" at the Red Square where we took out chance to visit the mausoleum of Lenin. The experience of viewing Lenin’s mummified corpse was one that we will not forget. We were not allowed to bring anything inside the mausoleum and when as we entered the passage leading towards the inner room where he lay there were stern guards at every turn. Very James Bond. I was walking with my hands in my pockets but the first guard motioned that this was not allowed. Once inside the room we were allowed to walk around his body once and there was no stopping allowed. Super creepy but awesome at the same time. 

Then it was back out into the square, where we walked passed the gravestones of many communist leaders including Stalin and his top officials. Several bouquets of flowers were laid on the graves.  The Red Square is such an amazing place, we could have spent our entire trip just admiring the incredible buildings and visiting the museums.   

The GUM department store beautifully lit by the afternoon sun.

The National Historical Museum, a prime example of Russian Revivalist architecture.

We also visited the inside of St Basil’s Cathedral which was a big surprise because it consists of seven separate interconnected chapels (one under each onion dome).