June 11
Moscow
The last full day in Russia. We would leave Moscow the next morning . . .
[And what a beautiful sight to wake up to . . . ]
[Now on our way for a day at the Kremlin. Likely a statue of some important Russian. Or a monument to KFC?]
[Vladimir Mayakovsky, a poet, playwright, artist, and actor who committed suicide in 1930 . . . ]
[Apparently not a tourist worthy fountain though I found it cute . . . ]
[The only identifier I could find was “Moscow fountain with drinking water” . . . ]
[The forever popular Pushkin . . . ]
[Not to mention St. Vladimir – and the Kremlin is in sight . . . ]
[As you’ll recall from a previous post, the Russian State Library . . . ]
[And Alexander Gardens at the Kremlin . . . ]
[An example of the ubiquitous American tourist . . . ]
[An example of ubiquitous American tourists . . . ]
[And Pam and Tom, more American tourists . . . ]
[No, we do not know the photobombing lady . . . ]
[Patriarch Hermogenes in Alexander Garden . . . ]
[Four Seasons Fountain . . . ]
[Modeling with the FIFA World Cup Model . . . ]
[This, of course, is Mother Russia . . . ]
[Tom with an in the neighborhood photo op . . . ]
[“Seeking shelter from the storm?”]
[And two from Pam . . . ]
[Well, Pam did a camera handoff to get this shot of the four of us . . . ]
[We’re in the land of the cosmonaut . . . ]
[Two can model with the model . . . ]
[No, we do not know the photobombing man . . . ]
[And the four horses in the Four Seasons . . . ]
[Another Russian model?]
[All part of Alexander Garden . . . ]
[Photo by Pam – we look a little chilled . . . ]
[And back at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers . . . ]
[Did you know my birth year is 1945?]
[We actually watched quite a bit of RT in Spain (a later trip) . . . ]
[The classic photo of the main entrance to the Kremlin . . . ]
[As I recall, this is when we dropped in on the Four Seasons Hotel for a rest, a hot drink, and a WC . . . ]
[Yeah, it’s a pretty nice place . . . ]
[The WC!]
[Back outside to find a volleyball game in progress . . . ]
[Are there bad wine bars?]
[This may be the Four Seasons?]
[The Super captures Lenin in all his glory . . . ]
[ . . . and the pigeon on his head . . . ]
[The Metropol Hotel – we were told it had a rooftop restaurant with good views. I don’t recall why we didn’t partake?]
[So, we were heading to the Bolshoi Ballet anyway . . . ]
[Where we stumbled into another modeling session . . . ]
[But first the Super shoots the theatre . . . ]
[And then Pam moved in for a modeling close-up . . . ]
[OK, so did I!]
[But we couldn’t go in – another venue closed during FIFA . . . ]
[A distance shot of the Super, Pam, and Tom in front of this landmark theatre . . . ]
[A Hyatt in the distance . . . ]
[The Bolshoi area looking back to Manezhnaya Square . . . ]
[Russian State Academical Maly Theatre . . . ]
[The Metropol . . . ]
[Streets too busy and/or wide to cross? So, walk under . . . ]
[Almost like a subway for walkers . . . ]
[As I recall, this was in the Metropol?]
[Never pass up a WC – or a selfie op . . . ]
[Pretty good friends . . . ]
[Back outside (obviously) . . . ]
[With comrade Lenin . . . ]
[We’re on the move again and stopping for photo ops along the way . . . ]
[Photo op by Pam . . . ]
[The State Duma – the lower house of the Federal Assembly (the upper house is the Council of the Federation. The Duma headquarters are located a few steps from Manege Square. Its members are referred to as deputies. The State Duma replaced the Supreme Soviet as a result of the new constitution introduced by Boris Yeltsin in the aftermath of the Russian constitutional crisis of 1993, and approved by the Russian public in a referendum (Wikipedia).]
[Moscow Hotel . . . ]
[So, here’s where we are!]
[Looking into Red Square from “across the street” . . . ]
[Entering the Moscow Hotel . . . ]
[That never pass up a selfie op again . . . ]
[And back under the people tunnel . . . ]
[Coming back up at the Kremlin’s main gate . . . ]
[Stand by for news!]
[Cool door . . . ]
[And back on the Super’s street of lights . . . ]
[Hi! Here I am again! And the sun is shining!]
[Getting our bearings . . . ]
[Kazan Church in Red Square . . . ]
[These guys didn’t make the tourist information list?]
[Walking along parallel to Red Square, which would be on our right here . . . ]
[To get to Red Square, I had to breech this barrier probably in violation of multiple security codes (photo by Pam) . . . ]
[So now we are tracking right toward Red Square . . . ]
[Where we start running into people of a FIFA international flavor . . . ]
[And you can’t help shooting St. Basil from every angle . . . ]
[The Kremlin’s outer wall . . . ]
[The view 90 degrees to the left of the Kremlin wall shot. I believe this is Bolshoy Moskvoretsky Bridge, a concrete arch bridge that spans the Moskva River immediately east of the Kremlin. The bridge was built 1936-1937 and connects Red Square with Bolshaya Ordynka street in Zamoskvorechye (Wikipedia).]
[A FIFA information booth . . . ]
[Seriously, the only thing I could find was “small church on Red Square.” It deserves better . . . ]
[To know it is to love it . . . ]
[And now we’re ambling into Zaryadye Park, Moscow’s first new green space in 50 years, designed by the American architects Diller Scofidio & Renfro, and one of the most ambitious and expensive architectural projects in Russia in decades. It opened September 2017 (nytimes.com)]
[That selfie thing again . . . ]
[Natural is becoming the new normal in modernity . . . ]
[Oh, and they have this outer space restaurant. So, why not have a far out lunch here?]
[And we did!]
[Unique place . . . ]
[Very large indicating they likely host large events . . . ]
[A large table dining room in the back . . . ]
[I’ll have what the cosmonauts eat. Nyet!]
[A large and diverse menu . . . ]
[Now we have some “foodie” shots, especially for FOB (friend of the blog) “Weakie” who wanted more food shots and less shots of churchs, buildings, bridges, and other such stuff . . . ]
[And we thought the food surprisingly good . . . ]
[The private dining room . . . ]
[The fancified WC’s . . . ]
[7 lunch shots from the Super . . . ]
[They say you can be subject to large amounts of radiation in Russia . . . ]
[And the ladies’ WC . . . ]
[And a couple lunch shots from Pam . . . ]
[Part 2 will be the Kremlin, up next . . . ]
[And here’s a little report on the place by CBS Sunday Morning . . . ]
A cruise ship is a floating town of lazy people. ~ Garrison Keillor
Up Next: The penultimate Russian post . . .
alexandriacardinals2.wordpress.com 
Beautiful country — especially the architecture. The restaurants look very inviting as well. Thanks for sharing your adventure.
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