Day 6.


At Moskva Belorusskaya train Station after arriving in Moscow.


And refuelling with some Макдоналдс.


After checking in at my hotel, I caught the metro. Again very palatial and beautiful.


At the Gulag Museum, an art installation signifying the tangled threads of thought.


The Gulag camps were scattered all over Russia, and were used to imprison both petty criminals and politcial prisoners.


татуировка


The Bolshoi Theatre.


At Red Square, with the Lenin's mausoleum and the Kremlin on the right, St. Basil's Cathedral middle, and the famous GUM department store / shopping mall on the left.


Inside the beautiful interior of GUM (Gosudarstvennyi Universalnyi Magazin, or main universal store).


Buying some MOЯS (Russian cranberry drink).


And enjoying an ice cream outside.


After chilling out at the hotel for a bit, I then went exploring some of the metro stops recommended for their beautiful interiors. The stained glass murals at Novoslobodskaya station.


Chandeliers at Komsomolskaya Station.


And tiled mosiacs at Kievskaya Station.


With some Borscht and stroganoff at Moo-Moo Cafe for dinner. A cool place recommended by the Lonelyplanet for inexpensive Russian food.


At St. Basil's Cathedral at dusk.


In the labyrinth of passages at the cathedral.


And the pretty patterns on the ceilings.


GUM again on Red Square.


Couple.


And back at my hotel after a great day exploring Moscow.



Day 7.


Back at Red Square again to join the queue to see Lenin.


The grave of Joseph Stalin at the Kremlin Wall Necropolis.


At the Ivan the Great Bell Tower inside the Kremlin.


The Tsar Cannon.


Annunciation Cathedral at the Kremlin.


Wild horses. The building in middle top is the State Duma, the Russian parliament.


The State Historical Museum on Red Square.


The museum chronicled both early (stone age) as well as recent modern history.


Outdoor gallery.


The Russian White House, where Vladimir Putin keeps his main office. Also famous for being shelled by tanks in 1993 on the orders of Boris Yeltsin during the Russian Constitutional Crisis.


Protest.


At Stolovaya 57, a Soviet style 1950's cafe at GUM for dinner. Another great recommendation from the Lonelyplanet.