Moscow

Our tickets for the first leg of the trans Siberian arrived today thank god, we leave tomorrow in the evening.
We also booked as Hostel in Irkutsk for 2 nights apparently it's one of the cheapest in the area but it's is still around £20 per night.
This morning we ate semolina and pancakes for breakfast, the girls in the restaurant sold Rich the native drink which we thought was beer but was this malty raisin tasting drink.
We walked to the Kremlin and there were so many police, soldiers, people in uniform. Over night they had brought in metal detectors so you couldn't go into red square unless you had a pass. Most of the soldiers were extremely young. It turns out it was a kind of Russian day!
We walked to Christ the Savior Cathedral which is so impressive with all the gold on the top.
Across the bridge which has hundreds of padlocks locked to it. They each have peoples names and dates on them.
When we got to the other side there was a tourist information man shouting out in different languages ''Ask me anything'', so we asked why were there padlocks on the bridge? He ducked down and put on a massive afro wig and said in an Jamaican accent, they are put there by people who get married, they lock them to the bridge as a sign of there love like me dread locks! Rich then asked what one of the buildings in the distance was, he ducked down and came up holding pom poms and did a little dance, ducked down again and put tape over his mouth!!!! So odd but the funniest Russian we have met so fair.
We walked to the chocolate factory and like many things here nothing is labeled and we couldn't find the entrance so we headed back. We met the tourist information guy and he was packing up with two other men, we were informed we had been involved in a hidden camera show, the camera was in one of the guys bags and we should keep an eye out on you tube for the clip. They were copying trigger happy tv. This was the friendliest, charismatic Russian guy we have met, he said he had been doing these sketches around Russia and he always ran the risk that if someone didn't like them they would most likely punch him in the face! We said that we didn't feel that Russia was very friendly and he agreed.
Everything is so expensive here, we ended up going to McDonalds for dinner as it's the cheapest thing we could find R400 for both of us around £12, still expensive. I feel bad as I haven't eaten MD in around 8,9 years but if you want something hot and don't want to spend about £20 per head MD's it is!
Our second day in Russia, I don't find the city friendly, things are hard to find as they haven't sign posted anything, children of about 12 are smoking everywhere, I feel on edge all the time and it's just so expensive!