Tuesday, June 28
Today we left Yasnaya Polyana and traveled the rest of the way north to Moscow. We arrived in the late afternoon and spent time organizing our luggage in preparation for our departure on Thursday.
Tomorrow we will visit the Kremlin.
Our driver, Sergey drove us nearly 1000 miles on this trip!
Wednesday, June 29
This morning we took the metro with Vladimir and Svetlana down to the Kremlin. We had a wonderful tour guide, Katya, who first took us through The Armoury. This amazing museum displays some of the beautiful items made in the Kremlin and gifts from around the world. One of the standouts was the Fabergé egg collection. The clothing, crowns and carriages of the Russian royalty were also very impressive.
Katya then walked us around Cathedral Square. We went inside the Assumption Cathedral, the main church of the Kremlin. This church was used for all the royal coronations. Nearby are the 11 cupolas of the Terem churches.
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| Cupolas of the Terem churches |
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| Ivan the Great Bell tower with 21 bells, the tallest building in the Kremlin |
Other interesting landmarks at the Kremlin include the Tsar Bell, constructed from 1733-1737. This bell weighs about 220 tons and is the largest in the world. It was cast in the ground, but in order to protect it from a fire in the Kremlin, water was poured on the hot metal, which cracked. A large piece fell out that weighs about 13 tons. The bell was commissioned by Empress Anna, but was never rung.
Tsar Bell
The Tsar Cannon was constructed in 1586. It was fired at least once, since some gunpowder was found inside. The cannonballs displayed in front are actually too large to fit in the barrel.
Tsar Cannon
We had lunch nearby, which included many toasts to our successful trip and thanks to our wonderful hosts. We bid farewell to Svetlana after lunch. Vladimir walked with us to the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. The building was destroyed in 1931 by order of Stalin and was rebuilt from 1995-2000.
Cathedral of Christ the Saviour
View back toward the Kremlin from a bridge over the Moscow River
We also walked through the Fallen Monuments Park or Muzeon, which features Soviet-era sculptures and beautiful, informal plantings.
Just after entering Muzeon
Huge Soviet emblem
The controversial Peter the Great statue is visible from the park
Statues of former Soviet leaders
We parted with Vladimir at our hotel. Later that night, we met Igor for dinner at a Georgian restaurant.
Appetizers
We leave tomorrow bright and early! Sergey will take us to the airport at 4 am.
The trip was very successful and a wonderful experience. Svetlana and Vladimir were excellent hosts and created an interesting and well-planned itinerary. We were able to see many different environments and plants, while connecting with expert botanists. We also appreciated all the cultural and historical landmarks we were able to visit. Sergey was a very capable driver, whether merging in Moscow traffic or navigating rough country roads. We hope to meet all our new friends again, either in Russia or back in the US!
Спасибо большое! (Thank you very much!)
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