Apologies for the blog link, but there's over 30 photos in this post!
As I mentioned before, the first time I ever left the US/Canada was exactly 25 years ago, when I headed to the USSR on a student exchange program. .Now, 25 years and 146 countries later I was finally headed back to Russia, and a very changed Moscow!
Although I didn't get to the hotel until maybe 9pm, I thought I'd still go for a short wander and find dinner, to try and get a little bit of an impression of the city before playing tourist. .10 minute walk away was Mayakovskij Square:
Which was a little more welcoming in daylight the next morning:
First thing I had planned was to see Red Square and the surrounding area. .It was maybe a mile walk which normally wouldn't be a big deal, but it was -10C outside, and lightly snowing. .No worry, time to walk!
First stop was the Tomb of the Unknowns:
A monument to those who died in Leningrad in WWII:
General monument to WWII, aka the Great Patriotic War:
Heading into Red Square:
Waited in line nearly an hour to get inside, which is free, however, the scam is you have to check your cell phones, cameras, etc, which they get a bit over $1 (and another line) each for. .A picture of Lenin's tomb from the outside, since you can't take pictures inside. .Yup, he still looks dead.
St. Basil's Cathedral:
The rest of the post and pics are on my blog at this link.