Moscow Day Two

While we anxiously await our flight to Kemerovo. Eugene was nice enough to show us some of the sights. In the morning we toured around the Red Square ("red" meaning "beautiful" in Russian) which was laid out in 1493. From its initial function as a marketplace, the gradual constuction of monuments in the 17th century made it a focus for demonstrations. In October 1917 it was stained red with the workers' blood. It was eventually pedestrianized in 1990. The above photos are some of the historical landmarks: St. Basil's Cathedral, The Kremlin, Kazan Cathedral, GUM (Russia's largest department store) and the State Historical Museum.


The beautiful St. Basil's Cathedral was built by a man who, according to legend, was afterward blinded by Ivan the Terrible so he could never build anything so fine again. Multicolored onion domes and a lbyrinth of chapels linked by an ornate corridor.


Gum the largest department store in Moscow. David and Eugene prevented me from going inside..oh well too excited to shop!


Here is David working his magic with Tsar Nicholas II to get in to the Kremlin to have an audience with President Vladimir Putin.





The Kremlin the Citadel of the Tsars, headquarters of the Soviet Union and now the residence of the Russian president, for centuries the Kremlin has been a symbol of the power of the State. The Saviour's Tower used to be the Kremlin's main entrance. We also saw the changing of the guards that happens every hour at the monument to WWII outside the Kremlin wall.


Kazan Cathedral is a sweet little church. David and I went inside to light a candle and say a prayer that everything goes well tomorrow in Kemerovo.

After a fun day of touring Moscow, we are back at the hotel waiting for Eugene to take us to the airport. We depart Moscow at 10:00 pm and arrive the next day at 6:00 am in Kemerovo, Siberia. We are exhausted, excited and nervous all at the same time. We are counting the hours until we see our little boy.