Saturday, September 27, 2014

To Russia With Camera

The Trans Siberian Highway runs almost 10,000 kms from Vladivostok in the east to Moscow in the west and so have we. In spite of some challenges along the way, we reached Moscow on Tuesday, albeit one bike short. What a thrill to ride up to Red Square on our way to the hotel and take pictures of the bikes in front of the iconic St. Basil's Cathedral! No matter how many pictures you've seen of these places, nothing compares to seeing them in front of you and the awe that is inspired by their history.
Russia has provided us with some incredible scenery from the silver birch forests of the east, to the vast grass lands of the central steppe, past beautiful Lake Baikal, through the soft, rolling Ural Mountains all dressed in their Fall foliage, to the historic cities of Kazan and now Moscow. Like any big city, it's bustling with traffic and people but unlike many, it's history is alive in beautifully maintained or restored buildings and churches. Our hotel is in the center of the city, blocks from Red Square and the Kremlin so we get settled in and prepare for our assault on anything tourist the next day.
The Hop On Hop Off Bus is a great way to get a good overview of most big cities and this one includes a river cruise! After a four hour narrated tour, we spend the next two days doing all the tourist things: a tour of the interior of St. Basil's where we have the good fortune to hear an acapella quartet singing hymns; window shopping at the famous GUM Department store that supplied the polititions' wives during the dark days of Communism; walking along the Kremlin wall where heads of state and other dignitaries are interred; visiting Lenin's tomb where he is resting peacefully under glass almost 100 years after his death and looking better than a lot of people in the line! Red Square and the Kremlin are lined with numerous museums and churches and require more time than we have on this trip so the rest will have to wait till another time because we have one other place of interest to visit.
The Novodevichy Cemetery, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is the final resting place for the past and present elite of Moscow from actors and actresses to politicians and poets to military, athletes, explorers, writers, scientists, artists and even a clown! Many names we recognize: Andrei Gromiko, Raisa Gorbacheva, Nikita Khrushchev, and Boris Yeltsin. One we don't is Nadezhda Allilueva, better known as the wife of Stalin. But the real attraction here is the magnificence of the monuments! Almost every plot contains a beautiful sculpture of its occupant, most larger than life. Yeltsin's is a giant marble flag of the new Federation he led as its first President. Writers have marble copies of their books while the military heros have planes, tanks, or other armaments to show their strength. The abundance of fresh flowers and wreaths show they have not been forgotten.
And we will not forget Moscow! What a happening city! Full of young, 'beautiful' people, expensive cars, and great restaurants. And great people-today as we came up out of the Metro looking lost, two people offered to take us to our destination. One, a young student, went out of his way so he could practice his English. When I gave him a Canada pin, he dug in his wallet and handed me an Olympic coin from Sochi encased in plastic. You cannot help but be touched by these people who have endured so much over the years but are so generous to strangers.
Tomorrow, we're off to the final frontier-St. Petersberg. Just can't wait to snuggle two up on that KLR for another 500 miles!

Beautiful architectural detail

Bolshoi Theatre

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Nikita Khrushchev

Antarctic Explorer

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