Changing of the Kremlin Guard

This was a whirlwind tour if ever there was one. We drove around town for a while, all of us trying to take pictures through the bus windows. Then stopped at the Kremlin / Red Square area. This started our great. We arrived just in time to see the changing of the guard. By the time the guard was changed, it was raining steadily. Danita and I were prepared, but unfortunately we discovered that our jackets are not waterproof. We walked around, trying to keep our cameras dry. We decided to skip the last church and went to meet our bus. Unfortunately, the VIPs were exiting and the road was closed. There was actually a time when a patient in an ambulance died waiting 90 minutes for the VIPs to finish exiting. We waited in the rain 90 minutes for our bus. The group was prepared for cool temperatures and rain under normal circumstances, but standing still for 90 minutes got everybody kind of grouchy. Things weren’t improved any when we found out the bus driver was prevented from cranking the heat due to limitations placed by the automatic comfort control on our Mercedes bus. We went to a “good” restaurant for our last dinner. The music was loud and the bar active, but it was fortunate we had found good restaurants in St. Pete, so we wouldn’t despair of finding decent food in Moscow.

Christ the Redeamer Church. The Russians love their history. This Church was destroyed by Lenin. Then Krushev built a swimming pool here. Then it was re-built to the exact original plan, to the cost of about 3 billion dollars.

Most of our group had paid for an optional tour “Moscow by Night”, but it was so late and we were so uncomfortable that every last person wanted to skip that tour. When we got back to the boat, we learned that those who paid for the optional tour had to find their receipts to get a refund. There was quite a bit of unhappiness.

Metropol Lobby

Jumping ahead a little, we made it to our hotel Satuday morning. The Metropol is a beautiful hotel, with stained glass windows in the lobby and a chandelier in our room. I booked it when the exchange rate was 75 Rubles to the dollar. It is a little more than we would normally pay, but it is an easy walk to the Kremlin and an amazing place to stay. On the down side, while waiting for our guide in the lobby, we saw an Afgan official being greeted. His wife and daughters received expensive silver bowls. It’s corruption in the open.