the russia adventure, day 10 (moscow).

If I could sum up this day in two sentences, I would say first, that I did Moscow in a day. Ad second, that the weather today was much more life what I was expecting when I planned to go to Siberia in February.

We got up early this morning to fly to Moscow. Moscow is 2 hours behind Ekat, so it was still pretty early in the morning when we arrived. It was slightly warmer, only right at freezing, but that just meant that the snow falling was more of a rain/sleet combination. And everywhere it was just very wet and slushy. Luckily, it stopped snowing part way through the day - otherwise I don't think we would have made it through everything I wanted to do.

We were picked up at the airport and driven to the C&MA Russia guest flat (basically an apartment filled with lots of beds for when members of the C&MA team need to stay in Moscow). We got settled and the boys got a chance to run around a bit after being cooped up on the airplane. Diane, one of the C&MA missionaries in Moscow, met us, then we walked to the metro. This was actually the worst part of the day - the snow/rain was at its most biting, it was a bit of a hike, and both boys were clearly miserable. (I didn't really enjoy it, either).

Moscow has one of the longest and most elaborate subway systems in the world. Also, most of the stations are very beautiful, almost like museums. They have beautiful mosaics on the walls, or sculptures, or elaborately painted ceilings. Though to be honest, I had little time to notice such things. I was too busy trying to keep up with JB (the speed racer) or to reassure Iris that I was right there with them. She was paranoid about losing me, which I actually appreciated.

(Statue of Lenin just outside of Red Square.)

After getting off the metro, we walked the short distance to the Kremlin and Red Square, and passed a small communist rally on the way. I finally ran out of space on my camera's memory card and had to borrow JB and Iris's camera. It was gray and visibility was not great (as you can see in the photos). Had it been nicer, I might have wanted to walk closet to Saint Basil's Cathedral (if you have a picture at all in your head of a Moscow landmark, this is most likely it). We tried to get a picture of all of us, but Gavin was not having it (we got a much better one later).

(The entrance to Red Square - ignore the guy picking his nose in the foreground.)

(Carter, all bundled up in his stroller.)

(GUM Department Store, on one side of Red Square.)

(The Kremlin, on the the other side of Red Square.)

(Me in front of Saint Basil's Cathedral.)

We stopped at McDonalds, which was an absolute madhouse, then took the metro to Arbat. Arbat is a walking street and is lined with souvenir shops and street vendors, and has two Starbucks. The Starbucks was especially important as a bribe of hot chocolate was one of the only things that kept Gavin going.

I picked up a few more souvenirs, mostly for me - a Christmas ornament, a few tiny matroshka dolls for a special commemorative project I have in mind, and a beautiful watercolor of Moscow. Then we stopped at Starbucks, where I got a Moscow Starbucks mug and Gavin got a sugar fix. Then, outside, we got a much better photo.

(Me, JB, Iris, Gavin, and Carter).

By then it was getting pretty close to the boys' bedtime, at least Ekat time, and JB, Iris, and I were all pretty exhausted, since we were up early and had been up late the night before getting ready for the trip. So we headed back to the guest flat and ordered Papa John's pizza, then just relaxed until we went to bed.