June 9
Moscow
[By now, after having perused Part 1, I’m sure you realize that Moscow is not the gray, monolithic, dreary place we were always told it was. We knew going over that St. Petersburg was a universally admired cultural and arts center, but Moscow was a surprise. Of course, we just visited the highlights over three days, but this city of 12 million denizens was a big hit with our tour group. So picking up where last we left off, in Manezhnaya Square . . . ]
[And here’s General Zhukov again . . . ]
[Studying the heretofore little known Manezhnaya Square insect population . . . ]
[And now hiking along the Kremlin’s outer wall . . . ]
[Patriarch Hermogenes Monument in Alexandrovsky Garden. Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia from 1606. It was he who inspired the popular uprising that put an end to the Tine of Troubles. Hermogenes was glorified by the Russian Orthodox Church in 1913 (revolvy.com).]
[Romanovskiy Obelisk in the Alexander Garden . . . ]
[Spire of the main tourist entrance to the Kremlin . . . ]
[Alexander Garden . . . ]
[Kremlin tourist entrance . . . ]
[Strolling Alexander Garden . . . ]
[‘WC’ – universally, the most important initials to know in foreign travel . . . ]
[As noted, Moscow Kremlin Museums . . . ]
[Oh, you know . . . ]
[Fyodor Dostoyevsky, who wrote a few rather famous novels, outside the state libary . . . ]
[Russian State Library . . . ]
[Old building of the Russian State Library . . . ]
[The view from the old library . . . ]
[The old library . . . ]
[Another view from the old library, the Monument to St. Vladimir, in the center of Moscow, in Borovitskaya Square, with the Kremlin in the background . . . ]
[St. Vlad, closer-upper . . . ]
[Well, he is a central figure . . . ]
[Looking back at the old library . . . ]
[Sorry, don’t read Cyrillic . . . ]
[Appears to be adjacent to or part of the following photo . . . ]
[First sighting of (more to follow) of The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, the tallest Orthodox Christian church in the world . . . ]
[Pushkin Museum, where we would go on the following day . . . ]
[Yvgeny and Natalia? Or not?]
[Christ the Saviour and . . . ]
[The grounds around it . . . ]
[I believe we had the option to go in but were churched out and just wanted to sit in the sun . . . ]
[Notice the top of a “ship” in the left background?]
[Cathedral of Christ the Saviour and Patriarshy Bridge over Moskva River . . . ]
[A view from the bridge . . . ]
[Patriarshy Bridge is a steel pedestrian box girder bridge that spans Moskva River and Vodootvodny Canal, connecting Cathedral of Christ the Saviour with Bersenevka in downtown (0.6 kilometers west from the Kremlin). It was built in 2004; the second part of the bridge spanning Vidiitvodny Canal was opened in September 2007 (Wikipedia).]
[The Peter the Great Statue is a 98-metre-high (322 ft) monument to Peter the Great, located at the western confluence of the Moskva River and the Vodootvodny Canal in central Moscow. It was designed by the Georgian designer Zurab Tsereteli to commemorate 300 years of the Russian Navy, which Peter the Great established. It was erected in 1997 and is the 8th-tallest statue in the world. It weighs around 1,000 tons and contains 600 tons of stainless steel, bronze and copper (Wikipedia).]
[The bridge view opposite Peter the Great includes the Kremlin, et al . . . ]
[A chilly wind was blowing . . . ]
[Impressive!]
[Impressive!]
[In the center background appears to be the Old Building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs . . . ]
[Possibly an oligarch roaring by in a blue Porsche . . . ]
[Another World Cup reminder . . . ]
[A new tall building . . . ]
[Another new tall building . . . ]
[With the three preceding pictures, we were on our way to a classical folklore concert. So, I believe this a view from Sparrow Hills (Vorobyovy Gory) and Moscow State University – a scenic overlook of the city as we’re riding in the bus. It would have been nice to stop along here to enjoy the view, but there was no where to park . . . ]
[More FIFA Fanfest . . . ]
[Another overlook shot while on the go – kind of a “hello, young lovers” spot . . . ]
[And we have arrived at the concert venue . . . ]
[Alexey guides us in . . . ]
[The empty stage . . . ]
[The overhead lights . . . ]
[The full stage . . . ]
[As the performance has begun . . . ]
[The maestro . . . ]
[Starring traditional Russian instruments – balalaikas, domras, guslis, bayans . . . ]
[We very much enjoyed the concert . . . ]
[I wanted to ask if they would perform at our high school’s Performing Arts Center . . . ]
[But we were nearing the end of our trip, and I was running short on rubles . . . ]
[This appears to be our group performing, on loan from YouTube . . . ]
[And now the sights and sounds of the city as we bus back to our boat . . . ]
[I don’t recall what this building once was, but now it’s a Radisson . . . ]
[And a bit of the modern skyline . . . ]
[Say good night, Moscow . . . ]
If you think adventure is dangerous try routine, it’s lethal. ~ Paulo Coelho
Up Next: More Moscow . . .
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