Since it has been some time since the trip, I have to refer to our itinerary we were given prior to the trip. thankful for archived e-mail to store these things. I would say %60 of the people on this trip were also on the trip to Kiev, a total of 22 individuals. A great group of people ranging from civilians to Army and Air Force active duty members.
One of the first things we did when arriving was take a tour of some of Moscow's elaborate Subway stations. very unique part of a tour but gave us a great basis of how we could get around on our own in the city. We made our final stop with the group near the Red Square. This is one of the first pictures I took in Moscow. We were able to tour the Kremlin with a tour guide, and our final night in Moscow we saw a Russian Ballet in the Kremlin theater. Sam wasn't too thrilled about the Ballet, but when in Russia.
They are everywhere. We also saw and had Starbucks and got our Hard Rock glass in Moscow!!
St Basil's Cathedral, a beautiful cathedral with many differences to those in the Ukraine. Sam and I decided we would skip seeing the inside as there were a number of cathedral's on our tour itinerary, and since being in Europe, after so many cathedral tours, a number of them start to look the same.
A picture of the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown. I was very surprised to see this, very similar to the ceremony done in Arlington Cemetery for the Tomb of Unknown.
Additional sites that we saw in Moscow was Lenin's Mausoleum, GUM, Tverskya Boulevard, Cathedral of the Savior, New Maiden convent, Sparrow Hill and Lomossov University.
During the trip I learned a lot about the Russian Royalty throughout the century's to include Peter the Great.
I had to take a picture of this tree, this has become a tradition in recent years in Moscow. On wedding days, the Bride and Groom will attach locks to these trees. It is very neat to see as Sam and I have seen this in many countries and continents. To include Tokyo, Japan, Seoul Korea, and Prague Czech Republic.
These pictures are of the Summer Palace. This Palace was almost completely destroyed during World War II but has been magnificently rebuilt to look almost exactly of what it did when it was used by Royalty. We also toured the Winter Palace in the St Petersburg, which housed the Hermitage Museum.
We made our trip to St Petersburg via train, that left Moscow about Mid-Night arriving in St Petersburg at 7 30 am. My first overnight on a train, defiantly an experience. Our hotel was at the end of one of Moscow's busy streets, easy access to all sorts of food and stores. And many sites.
A photo of the World War two memorial in St Petersburg.
Other sites that we saw in St Petersburg include the Palace Square, Peter I Statue, St Isaaks's Cathedral, Nevski Prospect, Smolny Institute and Convent, artists Square, and the Field of Mars. Additionally we spent a morning in the Peter and Paul fortress where the city of St Petersburg began.
That is a brief overview of our trip to Russia, defiantly a once in a lifetime experience and soo happy we did this in our last couple of months before leaving Europe. A bit bitter sweet knowing that we would be leaving so soon, but with so many memories!!
If anyone wants to see more photos of our trip let me know I have a lot!!
No comments:
Post a Comment