Thursday : Sunny

After a surprisingly good sleep and some breakfast, we headed down the road to meet for our guided city walk tour. It was going to be a nice warm sunny day today, perfect for our 3 hour walk around the city.

The tour started under a big statue of two blokes who made the Russian alphabet, we can blame them for our troubles on the metro. We continued along a road passing a couple of churches and the old Moscow city walls, they were built out past the Kremlin walls to expand the city boundaries.

We eventually came to a familiar sight Saint Basil's Cathedral, and were told about the statues of the two fellas out front. The were like the Russian William Wallace, gathering an army to fight and win against the Polish and Lithuanian forces in the 17th century. We then continued through the Red Square being told about other buildings and monuments, like the execution platform in the square, although it never held an execution it was used by orators. We were also told that Stalin's body was removed just 5yrs after being placed in Lenin's mausoleum and put in the area behind the tomb. Something to do with the De-Stalinism of Russia.

We went through resurrection gate which was the main entry to the square back in the day, to zero kilometer. Which is a large bronze plaque that every measurement in Moscow is taken from. All the tourists throw coins over their heads trying to get good luck from the plaque and the homeless stand there all day picking up the coins.

We turned left and headed through Alexander gardens, past the grave of the unknown soldier, then to another place called Ruins Grotto that is supposed to give you good fortune as well. We were told that as well as being religious the Russians were a superstitious people too. People were climbing up the cave walls trying to find coins in the wall and replace them with one of their own. The guide said the higher you climb the luckier you may become. It would be lucky if you come down without falling I suppose.

Alexander gardens had lots of fountains and water features its was a nice garden with the Kremlin as a backdrop. We were told that every Thursday the Kremlin is closed while its two employed Falcons fly around and take control of any pests. We did notice the lines were empty and thought You Beauty! After the tour we could go to the Kremlin, well that mightn't be a good Idea, Kim quite often considers me a pest.

The tour shortly finished after our visit to the park. I enjoyed our free city walk Irina was a really good guide, she had a big smile, told jokes and was very easy to understand. She had high hopes for Russia's future.

Seeing how the Kremlin was closed we went back to the hostel for a break, I wasn't feeling the best. I was getting a nasty cough and sore throat. That only means one thing for me, the start of a cold. b***** nothing worse than a cold in Summer. On the way back we stopped off at a shop and picked up a feast of a lunch to have back at the hostel.

After lunch I had a bit of a lie down, while Kim planned a metro tour. I think the cold tablets knocked me around a bit and my headache and sore throat had gotten worse. Not sure if it was a cold or my sore throat and coughing was caused by the smog. It might be a bit of both.

After my Nanna nap we went inside Saint Basil's Cathedral, which had a cheap entry fee and was nice and empty. It was a bit of a hybrid, half church half museum pretty cool. The church had many dark and narrow passages that lead into small very shinny gold painted chapels. It was beautifully painted throughout the hallways and walls right up the towers into the domes, definitely worth a visit.

The Metro peak hour wasn't quite over just yet so we then went back out towards Alexander gardens and had a bit of a walk through. Almost fell asleep again at the fountains, they are hypnotizing and the fountain noise blocks out a lot too. Moscow has a lot of construction going on at the moment one street looked like a bomb had gone off and people were allowed to walk through the sites with no barriers. People were walking under boom lifts while welding, painting and grinding was happening. there was plant machinery driving around, dust everywhere, pretty crazy.

There was an underground shopping centre near the park so we went in and had a bit of a look. It was more of our price range too, we had a look around the shops. I need a couple new shirts and want to buy some crazy shirts with Russian writing on it.

No luck at the shops and it was getting late we went underground and toured the metro stations. Seems strange to want and go tour the 3rd busiest subway in the world I know. But when the metro stations and tunnels were opened in 1935 the Commies under Stalin decorated them like underground palaces. We visited maybe a dozen and there were large mosaics and decorative plaster work on the walls and very high, some domed, ceilings on most of the stations we visited. Also there were huge chandeliers, stained glass windows, heaps of bronze statues and brass decorative pieces. Kim did very well guiding my useless self through the Moscow network.

It was after 10:30 when we were above ground and started heading home, we stopped off a Maccas to by some thick shakes for my sore throat. Moscow is a bit weird with their drink prices, they what £4-5 for a coffee or a milkshake. The price at McDonalds was just over a pound, that may be why its always busy here.

Only one other person in our room tonight and after a bit of a chat over some drinks we went to bed.