We woke up at 9:15 – very late – I had the phone alarm set, but it was still set on Great Britain time, and it’s two time zones later here than there. Verle had bad leg cramps in both legs as he got up. Vlad and Marianna had planned to come around 11, so our late start was no problem. We had a couple of scones and then had breakfast (like our breakfast at home) with them when they arrived.
We then left for a wonderful day in Moscow.
Vlad drove quite a ways and parked, and we took the subway from there, which is the end of the line, into the city center at Red Square – so interesting!
SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES
We spent a lot of time walking around viewing the buildings that appear in photos of Moscow – so we saw Moscow as we had imagined from the photos. However, the photos always seemed drab and dark and like they were taken in winter time. Now they were painted and bright! We wondered if many of then had been painted for the World Cup soccer games that are going on this weekend. There are many tourists in the city for that. Many old buildings are being renovated and have scaffolding in place. A great idea, and one that I’ve never seen, is a plastic covering over the renovation area, with painting of the building and it’s windows on it, giving it a temporary lovely appearance instead of the unsightly view behind the plastic.
Buildings that we saw in Red Square:
Putin’s offices
Russian “Parliament”
Greek Orthodox church
Lenin’s tomb
Fancy shopping area
We walked through very expensive shopping areas in Red Square, and Vlad bought us special chocolate ice cream cones there – the ice cream goes all the way to the bottom of the cone.
A highlight of the day was a boat ride on the Moscow River. It was a beautiful day and the boat ride was such a wonderful way to see so much of the city. Vlad bought us each another ice cream cone, which we enjoyed again!
We started home again – taking the Subway back to Vlad’s vehicle, and stopping for wonderful baked potatoes with topping along the way, Vlad has developed diabetes, so he doesn’t eat some of the things we are eating. We arrived back at the apartment – Marianna was worried about the dog being alone all day. He was ecstatic to see us again and “kissed” me as I lay relaxing on the bed! Marianna made us some pasta with meat in it, homemade dill pickles (bright green instead of the dull color ours are – she doesn’t use vinegar – good) and salad.
We chatted awhile and then they left to go back to her folks’ home for the night.
NOTES:
Back of woman’s shirt: “EASY”
Vlad’s car radio: he plays American country music
Beginning religious discussion: both strongly emphasize icons, etc. ????