MOSCOW

One should be very careful of taking too much from news bulletins and bytes from TV clips. Almost invariably they paint a drab picture of Moscow and Muskovites. Sure, it is a city built on marshes [from where the name Moscow is drawn] but the image is very misleading. This is a city of vibrancy and colour and people going about their daily lives with as much vigour and engaging levels of social interaction as any other city. People are laughing; they joke; they engage with English speaking people as much as they can; they DO NOT ignore you because you speak English and thy mightn't - despite the common mis-beliefs. People aren't interested in war and armaments and conquest and military might - they just want peace and a fun world where they can relate as families. Which part of the world is really any different.

The boys were friendly and keen to pose

All the postering of discord and fragile peace - that is the game being played by politicians all around the world in almost every country and does not represent what the people are like. Moscow [and Russia for that matter] is very welcoming and obliging. It is a definite must see/experience for anyone who can make that a reality. People should not be put off by press and media images.

From the art of the underground metro stations where there is no dirt; no litter; no graffiti as in London and Paris and other big undergrounds; if officialdom is helping to maintain these conditions on a regular basis it is not in your face and it is definitely not scary.

The Glitz of the Moscow Metro

 Millions of people will use this metro system every day and mixed up in the hustle of daily life are these images of significant episodes of Russian history adorning the walls and ceilings of the underground.

Even the Kremlin and Red Square exposed in international media as grey places of military muscle are far from that. The colour again of the buildings both around Red Square and inside the Kremlin [which means fortress] walls make the whole environment alive and fun. Lenin must be rolling over in his Red Square tomb as it looks out onto the commercial centre of consumerism in the 'Gum' shopping centre immediately across from where the tomb is located.

Gum Shopping Precinct

On Guard in Red Square

            

There is some sentiment here that sooner or later his tomb will be moved maybe to where the other former President are entombed elsewhere in Moscow city. Apparently there is always scaffolding up in Red Square as it hosts party celebrations for Moscow's 837th birthday this weekend coming and at other times cultural events and concerts. Concerts are popular because they are big revenue gatherers for the Government.

Christ the Saviour Church

Preparation, Red Square for 837 birthday celebrations

                                 

The Church of Christ the Saviour is one of the most impressive structures we have seen. A Russian orthodox church it was made famous recently by Pussy Riot - the girl punk band that was arrested for performing anti-Putin songs on the doorstep.

All around the city are the Stalin [wedding] cakes - buildings initiated by Stalin and now the homes of Hotels [eg Radisson] and apartment blocks. They leave a defining image on the Moscow skyline. But like any huge city [of in excess of 12,000,000 people] traffic becomes a huge problem;

    

Radisson - Stalin's Wedding cake - by day and night

congestion in the Russian rush hour is like any western city; but perhaps scariest of all are the three laned open roads with a common middle lane used by vehicles to overtake in both directions; drivers really need to be on the alert but in allour travels here we have seen only one small nose-tail collision [other signs on the sides of the highways suggest more frequent serious results!].

      

Inside and outside the Kremlin

The road to Zagorsk and the Russian Orthodox Church of  St Sergius proved to be a real highlight; the experience of ongoing service at the re-burial place of the former founding monk of the Monastery and the art that adorned the walls was simply awesome.

   

Buildings and Guard - both at attention

Moscow is certainly a place to come back to. It is clearly different from Mother Russia, the rural embodiment of the down-to-earth Russian ethic; and as commercial centre and capital it is different from the slower pace of Saint Petersburg; it is in essence, a country within a country.

    

Rural Russia - Dacha's in the Heartland outside of Moscow