Maggie & Alan in Moscow
We were very excited to have Maggie & Alan come visit us here in Moscow and it was a great, whirlwind of a visit! To Maggie & Alan: Thank you for coming all this way guys and making it such a fun week!
I did up an itinerary for their trip, which totally went out the window, but we still managed to fit everything in that we wanted to and then some!
The nice, fresh itinerary:
Here's what it looked like after! lol
They arrived later on Friday afternoon than expected, so we just had some snacks at home and then walked to the Embassy for TGIF at Canada Club - actually, it was in the Red Room because Canada Club was undergoing renovations and it was too wet to be outside in the garden. It was here they had their first vodka shots. Although they probably wanted to just go to bed at this point from their long journey, we dragged them out to our favorite restaurant - Pinzeria for some pizza and Alan's first lamb dish of several here in Moscow.
Since we had Craig with us for the weekend, we hit the ground running the next morning going to Izmailova Market and Gorky Park. We had a few minutes to rest our feet before we headed off to Dr. Zhivago for dinner via metro.
Saturday, August 26th:
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| Their 1st ride in the Moscow Metro (our station: Krapotinskaya) - on our way to Izmailova Market for a little shopping and shashlik. The weather was a little iffy, but it turned out beautiful for our 2-park day |
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| Pit stop: Ploshad Revolutsi with all the bronze statues. Here Alan is rubbing the knee of the fertility statue. Watch out Maggie! |
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| The map to the market and the other part called "The Kremlin in Izmailova" |
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| Maggie wasn't too impressed posing for this picture... |
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| so we made her do it again with the red one and told her to perk up! lol |
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| What good sports they are! |
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| Alan tries his first Russian beer at Ismailova market while waiting for our shashlik lunch. |
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| Since it said it in her guide book, Maggie had to try "Kvas" - described as a mildly alcoholic beer-like drink served to children. They were NOT impressed with the taste. |
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| Vodka shots with our lunch |
After the market we headed closer to home, where I changed (as the day turned out way too nice for a sweater) and we took them over to see the beautiful Christ the Saviour Cathedral.
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| Maggie obediently sat where Craig told her to for the photo - he's still bossy even though he's no longer her boss! lol |
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| The gorgeous view of the Kremlin from Patriarch's Bridge as we walk towards Gorky Park |
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| The 98-metre-high, controversial statue of Peter the Great by the Georgian-born sculpture - Zurab Tsereteli. We went to his museum on Wednesday, but I don't have any of those photos. |
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| Taking part in a favorite pastime of Muscovites - eating ice cream in the park |
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| Adorable! |
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| My favorite statue in statue park on our way to Gorky Park |
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| Left to right: Stalin, Alan, Lenin |
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| The entrance gates to Gorky Park |
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| The Russian equivalent to our National Defense Head Quarters (NDHQ) in Ottawa and the Radisson river boat that we went on later in the week |
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| It sort of looks like they're lazing on the beach... lol It says "Summer is tasty with Lays" |
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| The posers with the old Chocolate factory in the background (the oval sign over the red brick building) |
After a quick clean up we headed out to dinner at Dr. Zhivago. We got out of the metro and it was pouring rain! We did a mad dash into the restaurant and managed not to get TOO wet.
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| Vodka & caviar of course. When in Moscow... |
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| excited to dig in... |
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| I think this was this his 3rd helping of lamb since arriving in Moscow! |
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| The ceiling in the restaurant - it's really quite a beautiful place. We tried to reserve the vodka room, but that didn't work out and the room at the back had a private party with the doors closed, so they couldn't see the beautiful red star chandelier in there. |
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Sunday, August 27th
Off to Red Square. With the International Military Tattoo going on it's not quite the same for visitors because everything is blocked off and there are stands and tents that ruin the view, but they thought the tattoo was worth that sacrifice.
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| St. Basil's Cathedral |
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| Inside the GUM (goom) mall - a very expensive mall with Versace, Louis Vuitton, etc... |
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| and... of course, ice cream. Russians LOVE this ice cream for 50 rubles (about $1 Cdn), but I personally think it's gross. |
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| The bells were ringing at this church along the pedestrian street (Nicolskaya) by Red Square |
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| That looks confusing! Since Sandra (Craig's sister) & I took a "master class" in bell ringing, we know it's definitely not easy! |
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| Lubyanka building - aka the Headquarters for the KGB and affiliated prison on Lubyanka square. Originally built in 1898 as the HQ for the All Russia Insurance Company. Following the Bolshevik revolution, it was seized by the government for the HQ of the secret police (back then it was called Cheka). I did a tour previously and in Russian jokes, the building is referred to as the tallest building in Moscow since Siberia (a euphemism for the gulag labour camp system) could be seen from its basement. Although the Soviet secret police changed its name many times, its HQ's remained in this building. In 1990 the Solovetsky Stone was erected across from Lubyanka to commemorate the victims of political repression. |
This is inside "Children's World" - a huge department store mostly dedicated to all things children. Unfortunately, the optical illusion place I've been to before is no longer there.
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| View of Red Square and "our" Christ the Saviour Cathedral from the observation platform on top of the Children's World store. In the far background on the right you can also see MGU - the Moscow State University and also one of the buildings referred to by foreigners as the 7 Sisters. |
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| Hotel Metropol: a historical hotel in the centre of Moscow built in 1899-1907. In 1918 the hotel was nationalized by Bolshevik administration - renamed Second House of Soviets and housed living quarters and offices of growing Soviet bureaucracy. Eventually it was converted back to its original function as a hotel in the 1930's. |
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| Two famous ballerinas in front of the famous Bolshoi Theatre |
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| Cafe Pushkin |
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| Starry (Old) Arbat goofiness |
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| A walk down Starry Arbat wouldn't be complete without seeing Sponge Bob! |
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| Probably no explanation necessary as this logo is quite well known by coffee drinkers - Starbucks Cafe on Starry Arbat Street. After I think 30,000 steps (according to Maggie's fit-bit), she deserved a coffee break! |
The princesses head off to the ballet
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| The countdown to FIFA World Cup Soccer in front of the State Historical Museum, Red Square and the Kremlin |
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| The Bolshoi Theatre is, unfortunately, closed in the summer, so we were unable to go to a ballet there or even see inside, but our production of Cinderella was just to the left of the Bolshoi. |
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| Although it was a lovely Cinderella ballet, I, personally (and Maggie would likely agree) was a bit disappointed by the theatre and the production. The Fairy Godmother was really tiny in a beautiful tutu while Cinderella's gown was nothing great. We were 2 of a very select few who dressed up for the evening - others were really casually dressed. Boo 😡 Still, it was a wonderful evening out - just Maggie & I while the guys went to a local bar and then home for a movie to cuddle up on the couch together! lol |
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| Fairy Godmother on left and Cinderella in yellow beside the Prince. I wish her gown was all full of sparkles too! |
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| After the ballet, since it was such a gorgeous night, we decided to go up to the O2 Bar of the Ritz Carleton (because it was too rainy the night before after Dr. Zhivago). The Tattoo was on that night, so we stayed until after the fireworks and then immediately caught a taxi before the crowds dispersed. |
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| Fireworks after the tattoo from the Ritz rooftop bar |
Monday, August 28th
In the morning I sent Maggie & Alan off to do their private tour of the Kremlin and the Armoury. Unfortunately, it was a very rainy and miserable day for it. 3 hours later they were done and they did a little exploring on their own since they already knew their way around. When they got home I brought them to the Danilovsky food market where we had a late lunch. Alan had more lamb in Plov and they walked around sampling various things (thankfully with no ill effects)!
Tuesday, August 29th
self-guided metro tour
Dubrovka Market
Dinner @ Ukrainian restaurant
Military Tattoo
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| And we were off to the International Military Tattoo - we walked so Maggie could add steps to her day. Here Craig gets them to pose in front of the new Vladimir Statue with the Kremlin in the background. It was a bit chilly - even Alan put on pants and a fleece (normally he's in shorts and a t-shirt). |
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| Korchma - the Ukrainian restaurant - for Alan's ancestors - or the "sunflower restaurant" as Maggie called it! |
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| It's a very kitchy restaurant and there was about a 30 second little singing performance too! |
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| Of course Maggie is eating Ukrainian borsch |
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Craig had 1/2 a duck
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| Alexander's Garden outside the Kremlin walls |
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| Before the show starts - we're in the VIP section for the spectacle! |
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| Look! There's a Canadian flag in Russia! There were no Canadian bands, but perhaps they tried to have a flag for all the spectators from various countries? |
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| The Swiss band - although not huge in size, was very entertaining |
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| Nothing to do with bands, but nicely done by the Japanese. |
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| All the acts gather for the finale. |
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| This will be our last tattoo here in Moscow also... wonderful show to see for sure! |
Wednesday, August 30th
We joined Craig for lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe on Starry Arbat and then I brought them to see the Zurab Tsereteli Museum.
Sadly, we also said our "see you later"s to Jack & Shirly with some drinks over at Judy's.
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| Of course, more fireworks to end off the evening! |
Friday, September 1st
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