“We’re in Moscow. Let’s find Red Square.”
“I’m too tired. Let me put my feet up for a few minutes.”
This conversation could have gone either way. From me to Anne or vice versa. We were both exhausted by the two weeks of horseback riding in Mongolia but excited about seeing Moscow for the first time. We decided to go out, but to whine too.

Stayed at the Hotel Metropol right next to Red Square.

Moscow also seemed to be a city of contradictions. The first that struck me was that in the remnants of the atheistic USSR, most of the tourist sites in Red Square and the Kremlin (center of the communist rule) were cathedrals. We visited five. They were old, well maintained, and beautiful. The other Kremlin museum we visited was the Armory, the national treasure store where arms and armor, carriages, clothing, house furnishings, and jewels from the Tsarist periods were on display. None of the sites we visited said anything about a workers’ paradise, or the USSR. While Lenin’s tomb was available, there were no other obvious references to the communist period.

Saint Basil’s Cathedral in Red Square

The walls and ceilings of Russian Churches are covered with paintings.

Then there was service. The Hotel Metropol, where we stayed, was fantastic. Every member of the staff was friendly and helpful. In the restaurants we tried, the food was good and the service excellent. Then we went to get tickets to the Kremlin. After waiting an hour, we finally managed to get them. The line wasn’t actually that long but every transaction took forever. We found the same at every ticket office, passport control, and airport desk. Process, it seemed, was much more important than service. This was underscored at the Kremlin ticket office where the most prominent sign above each ticket window was the ticket agent’s break schedule.

Culinary delights such as Borsch, Beef Stroganoff, Caviar, Halibut and Salmon Blini were some of the excellent dishes that we tried, but the most consistently busy restaurants we saw were MacDonald’s. They always had a crowd. Who would’ve thought.

Walking the streets was fun. The architecture was beautiful, and there were people hurrying about going to and from work, to the theater, wherever. It was energetic and active. By contrast, these same busy people seemed equally comfortable standing and waiting in lines. Lines to get tickets, lines to get into a cathedral, lines, lines, lines… It reminded me of the old Military saying, “Hurry up and wait.”

Just a typical street.

I went to my first Ballet, in Moscow no less. It was about three blocks from the Bolshoi and we were told that it was just as good but ¼ the cost and tickets were available. The ballet was in three parts. The first was very classical, like we all see on TV (yawn). But the next two acts were very cutting-edge. Part two had dancers with no shoes in nude appearing costumes dancing to a Mozart piece (Anne loved it). Part three had everybody in grey body suits accompanied by a largely percussion modern piece (I loved it). Then the people. Most were dressed up but as we waited in our seats we noticed that a large number were standing in the aisles. As the lights went down they just sat on the steps. It was a standing (sitting) room only crowd. An American fire marshal would have been apoplectic.

Ballet is popular in Moscow.

The building below is Lubyanka. The notorious home of the KGB, purges and political prisoners. Beautiful on the outside but inside??? It is now the Russian Federation Security building.

Lubyanka

Leaving the theme of contradictions here are a few more pictures.

We had heard of GUM. The government department store. It’s is a very pricy mall. Just about every boutique international brand is represented and you even can buy a Matryoshka (Russian Nesting doll) for $600.00. (Sorry granddaughters but that was out of the price range)

GUM

Anne standing under a fountain.

One of the many statues scattered around downtown Moscow.

Cathedral in the Kremlin. Notice the lines waiting to get in.

Again, the walls and ceilings are painted in the cathedrals.