Moscow.

Three days in Moscow was not enough time to see and do everything. We ended up seeing the major tourist attractions; the Kremlin, St Basil’s Cathedral, the Armory, and a tour of the best Metro stations (don’t knock it, they are beautiful).

We arrived at Moscow Station and were driven to the hotel by a giant who was also a man of little words, but whose driving was impeccable. He even asked us to fasten our seatbelts! We were met at the hotel by a woman who gave us maps and tried to organise our Belarusian visa. We will be going through Belarus on the way to Warsaw, and because of this, we need to get a transit visa. This has proven to be the only troublesome incident during the trip. We couldn’t get it in Beijing, because it was Chinese New Year. We couldn’t get it in Irkutsk, because there wasn’t a Belarusian embassy. It now appeared that we wouldn’t be able to get the visa in Moscow either. It was a national holiday (Protectors of the Motherland Day), so the embassy would be closed for two days. The woman told us that we would have enough time in St. Petersburg to get it. It all felt a little too close for comfort. Hopefully, we will be able to get the visa there. If not, we will just have to go through Finland or Estonia. Not such a bad second option.

We were super tired after our arrival, so we ate in the hotel and went to bed. We were heading to the Kremlin the next morning, and we knew that there was going to be a lot to see and take in.

After breakfast, we got the Metro to the Kremlin. The Metro is the easiest and quickest way to get around the huge metropolis that is Moscow. It’s also extremely beautiful, with marble columns, stained glass windows, and detailed frescoes to look at whilst being pulled along by the 9 million people who use the Metro everyday.

We arrived at the Kremlin mid-morning, bought our tickets, looked at the map, and set off for what proved to be an extremely interesting day. The Kremlin is comprised of half working government offices, and half old churches and museums. There are policemen everywhere, blowing whistles and telling you where you can and can’t go. The churches were all amazing; the gold spires really stand out against the dullness of the city’s skyline. The Kremlin is surrounded by huge walls that have only been breached twice since the Kremlin was built in 1320 (once was by Napoleon in 1812, and the other was by the Bolsheviks in 1917).

It was a cold, gloomy day, so we spent a lot of time inside the churches. When we had been inside all five of them, we headed to the Armory Museum to find out what treasures were there for us to see. The museum is set in the 700 room Kremlin palace, which is still used for state receptions and other events. It is a very impressive building and an extremely opulent museum. The museum houses a collection of Faberge eggs, a diamond encrusted throne, and many artifacts belonging to the Russian royal family. By the time we had finished, it was almost 4pm. We had a quick Russian buffet lunch, and then went to St. Basil’s to have a look at that before it closed. Again, it was as beautiful inside as it was out. Every inch of wall was covered with intricate paintings from the Bible. Each spire of St. Basil’s is called a ‘church’, because each spire is dedicated to a different saint. We were exhausted after that, so we took the Metro home, ate a kebab, and fell into a deep slumber.

The next morning, we woke up early, as we planned to go to Red Square and see Lenin’s entombed body. We had tried to see Chairman Mao’s body in Beijing, but it was closed the day we tried to see him. When we got to Red Square a policeman asked to see our passports. We had been warned that it is customary for policemen to try to scam tourists by asking to look at their passports, say that something is amiss, and then ask for money, or to accompany them to the station. Luckily, we had all the correct stamps, so he let us go. It was rather intimidating. The hotel had told us to challenge the police if they asked us for money, although this is easier said than done. Thankfully, it turned out fine. Unfortunately, Lenin’s tomb was closed until April. He was having some kind of restoration work done to him! We wandered around the city for the day, ate more kebabs (cheap sustenance in the world’s most expensive city!), and slept even better than the night before.

We had to check out of the hotel at midday. Our train to St. Petersburg didn’t leave until midnight. We put our bags in the luggage room and went to the Arbat; a shopping area in the city centre. We looked around, ate lunch and then went to the Pushkin Museum. This was another huge museum that was easy to get lost in for the afternoon. By the time we had finished it was 5pm, so we got on the Metro and had a look at the five most beautiful Metro stations. They were exquisite, and it was a cheap entertainment for the rest of the day. We went back to the hotel, had a few beers, and waited for the taxis to come and take us to the station.

The Red Arrow train to St. Petersburg was excellent. It’s an express train that only takes 8 hours. We were sharing a cabin with Gemma and Andy again, so we had some more beers and got ready for bed. The train was so smooth that the next thing we knew, the attendant was waking us up. Sun was rising and we were in St. Petersburg.