My last two days in Moscow were wonderful. On Wednesday, November 23, I actually slept in to 9:40am! The two previous days must have done me in! But on Wednesday afternoon, Terri and I went on a cruise on the Moscow River. She had done this before and wanted to make sure I did it as it was such a nice experience -- and it was. We went on the Radisson Cruise which included lunch service and was a beautiful boat. The only "bad" thing was that we got there right as the boat was ready to go, so we were checking out the menu and discussing that as we took off, and I never got it together to listen to the narrative...actually, it would have been weird to listen to the narrative, as we were sitting at a table visiting and I wouldn't have wanted the earphones in my ears!
It was a great view of Moscow from the river, which winds it's way through Moscow, almost looping back on itself at one point. We finished the tour as sunset, so got a few shots of buildings with all their lights lit. Beautiful. There are seven buildings here that look very much the same and are known in English as the Seven Sisters. From Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Sisters_%28Moscow%29
The "Seven Sisters" is the English name given to a group of Moscow skyscrapers designed in the Stalinist style. Muscovites call them Vysotki or Stalinskie Vysotki (Russian: Сталинские высотки), "(Stalin's) high-rises". They were built from 1947 to 1953,[1] in an elaborate combination of Russian Baroque and Gothic styles, and the technology used in building American skyscrapers[2].
The Radisson Hotel from where we began and ended the tour is one of them:
Here's a view of the Kremlin walls, buildings and churches from the river.
On my last day, Thursday, Nov 24, I gave in and arranged for Sasha the driver to take me to a Monastery and then there was a church and museum I wanted to go to. Sasha was able to take me to the Monastery, but I was told I couldn't go to the church as there was a special cloth being displayed there that people were waiting up to 24 hours (outside in the cold) to see it and I would have to wait in this line! So, I just went to the museum instead, but it was next to the church and it took over an over to go a couple of miles from the monastery to the museum! The Museum I visited was the Pushkin Fine Arts Museum, Private Collection. In this building was a special exhibit of Annie Leibowitz photos, including some I had seen years ago in Washington DC. Great photographer. Then there was a Kandinsky exhibit and a number of others that had been donated by locals who had collected, glassware, small porcline paintings, equine statues, etc.
I caught the metro back from there, and was acutally quite proud of myself. I not only bought my ticket, but also had to switch lines and I did it with no problems. I was a bit nervous when the police officer wouldn't let me pass to enter the Metro by the church, but he pointed me in the dirction of another entrance to the same stop and I made my way through it.
Up this morning very early to finish packing and the long drive to the Moscow airport. This is a different airport than the one we flew into and is quite modern. It is divided up into sectors and each sector has it's own passport control and security check, making for much shorter lines. We also got here in plenty of time, so the lines weren't bad at the check in desk for me either.
Now, off to Berlin! I've downloaded an app with a ton of information that I will read on the plane.
The "Seven Sisters" is the English name given to a group of Moscow skyscrapers designed in the Stalinist style. Muscovites call them Vysotki or Stalinskie Vysotki (Russian: Сталинские высотки), "(Stalin's) high-rises". They were built from 1947 to 1953,[1] in an elaborate combination of Russian Baroque and Gothic styles, and the technology used in building American skyscrapers[2].
The Radisson Hotel from where we began and ended the tour is one of them:
Here's a view of the Kremlin walls, buildings and churches from the river.
On my last day, Thursday, Nov 24, I gave in and arranged for Sasha the driver to take me to a Monastery and then there was a church and museum I wanted to go to. Sasha was able to take me to the Monastery, but I was told I couldn't go to the church as there was a special cloth being displayed there that people were waiting up to 24 hours (outside in the cold) to see it and I would have to wait in this line! So, I just went to the museum instead, but it was next to the church and it took over an over to go a couple of miles from the monastery to the museum! The Museum I visited was the Pushkin Fine Arts Museum, Private Collection. In this building was a special exhibit of Annie Leibowitz photos, including some I had seen years ago in Washington DC. Great photographer. Then there was a Kandinsky exhibit and a number of others that had been donated by locals who had collected, glassware, small porcline paintings, equine statues, etc.
I caught the metro back from there, and was acutally quite proud of myself. I not only bought my ticket, but also had to switch lines and I did it with no problems. I was a bit nervous when the police officer wouldn't let me pass to enter the Metro by the church, but he pointed me in the dirction of another entrance to the same stop and I made my way through it.
Up this morning very early to finish packing and the long drive to the Moscow airport. This is a different airport than the one we flew into and is quite modern. It is divided up into sectors and each sector has it's own passport control and security check, making for much shorter lines. We also got here in plenty of time, so the lines weren't bad at the check in desk for me either.
Now, off to Berlin! I've downloaded an app with a ton of information that I will read on the plane.
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