To Moscow

John and Mary at Red Square

We spent most of the day traveling to Moscow. We had an open question time with the program directors. The stories of the tough times during the Yeltsin years - the older directors lost their jobs and weren't sure how they would live. Misha chanced into a job with the BBC which paid well and he was able to support his family and his parents. We heard the usual distinction between favorable view of the American people after them, versus the American government. Misha had been a tour director during Soviet times and to him it was clear that some of the tour guides worked for the KGB at the time. He became very nervous when a school group stayed with families when his itinerary showed them staying in a hotel - would he be fired?

1930 Moscow subway station

Moscow is a huge city, 18x20 miles with a spoke a concentric ring road system. Many of the rings are former locations of the town walls. The city was founded in 1147 because it was at a crossroads for trade. A lot of new buildings are under construction though the economic collapse has slowed construction recently (unemployment is 10-11%). But we could also see several large Wedding Cake Buildings, built by Stalin from 1948 to 1953.

We began our tour at the World War II memorial, a monolith with St. George on top. From there we took the metro to Red Square. The first line of the subway was completed in 1935 and each of the stations has an elaborate and unique design. Marble walls, granite floors, murals, statues and chandeliers are common sights. We emerged at Red Square. The Gum department store, filled with brand names, occupies one side of the square. Built in 1893 with sculptures and glass ceilings, it was once the largest in the world. On one end of Red Square is St. Basil's Cathedral, built int he time of Ivan the Terrible. He changed the standard church design of 9 domes (1 central, 4 large, and 4 small in the form or a cross) to have each dome be a colorful and unique. Opposite Gum is Lenin's tomb and the Kremlin wall, site of the military reviewing stand on May Day. Opposite St. Basil's is the State Historical Museum built in 1883. The museum has been closed after the various revolutions to change history because "Russia is the only country in the world which has an unpredictable past" according to our guide.

St. Basil's Cathedral