Arrived in Moscow, made our way through immigration without any problem and thank heavens our bags were there. Svetlana met us outside customs and transferred us to the Hotel Rossia, one of the biggest all-time dumps we’d ever been in. The Rossia was one of the biggest hotels in the world, with over 2,700 rooms, constructed between 1964-1975. The only thing going for it was location…location…location, a three-block walk to the Kremlin, and Red Square.

The hotel itself was built as a square with an inner courtyard, the lobby filled with prostitutes and our room was “bare bones” or “barely adquate”…take your pick. This room faced the courtyard where due to lack of air conditioning, we got to listen to the reverberation of disco music all night. It was either that or suffocate. And, if you asked the floor matron, or hall monitors, on duty (typically Russian to have a floor matron who watched your comings and goings, handed out keys and dispensed no information) for anything, the answer was…”Nyet…not possible.”

I was glad to hear that the Rossia Hotel finally closed its doors January 1, 2006 and was demolished for an entertainment complex. That was a blessing and no great loss to the world.

map showing Rossia Hotel location, Moscow
Rob was on a pre-trek in Mongolia (been there…done it… read Mongolia series from June 6, 2006) with five of the group trekkers and was going to meet us somewhere in the Barnaul area. In the meantime, we managed to meet Marlynne and Michael and heard about their experiences exploring St. Petersburg on their own. An exercise in frustration according to Marlynne. And Marlynne’s hysterical rendition of trying to pry a fan out of the Hotel Rossia was hysterical. Marlynne had been a Delta flight attendant for over 30 years and certainly no pushover, but even she couldn’t get past all the “nyets.”

St. Basil’s Cathedral, the most recognizable symbol of Russia, always dazzles with its colorful onion domes. We’d visited Moscow and St. Petersburg on a speedy one-week trip years ago and visited St. Basil then but it is so magnificent. Built during the reign of Ivan the Terrible between 1554-1560, it has 10 towers sporting those onion-shaped domes. It never ceased to awe us each time we walked by. Unfortunately, one side was completely covered in scaffolding for a little restoration.

St. Basil’s Cathedral, Moscow
A fast walking excursion to the Kremlin the next day, always past St. Basil Cathedral, wandered by the river, strolled over to the flea market area and through GUM, Moscow’s famous old department store.

The Kremlin (“Kremlin” is a Russian citadel) overlooks the Moskva River, St. Basil Cathedral, Red Square. and the Alexander Garden.

walls and towers of the Kremlin, Moscow 

ex-Marine on Moskva River with Kremlin behind – Ivan The Great Bell Tower on far right 

Kremlin views,Moscow
The heart of the Kremlin is Cathedral Square surrounded by six buildings, including three cathedrals with golden cupolas shining in the sun. The Kremlin was once the religious center of Russia, as well as its political center. The Cathedral of the Annunciation was closed for religious services in 1918 and is now a museum. We also walked through the Church of Nativity and admired Ivan the Great Bell Tower.

The Cathedral of the Assumption is the oldest church in the Kremlin. Russian emperors and tsars were crowned here but the most interesting bit of trivia from our guide was that Napoleon’s troops stabled their horses here during his Russian campaign.

The Cathedral of the Assumption, Moscow
The other important Kremlin sights that were of interest to us:

- The Armory’s museum collection with nine halls of exquisite jewelry, men’s and women’s clothing, carriages, armor, and weaponry.

- The Tsar cannon

- The Arsenal, commissioned by Peter the Great in 1702

- The various walls, towers and fortifications dating back to the 1400′s.

GUM Department Store, is actually a huge, multi-story mall with over 150 stores and kiosks. We Westerners just went through it to admire the architecture, cast-iron railings and skylights. The Upper Trading Rows were built between 1890 and 1893 and GUM was the place for wealthy Russians to shop during the 1950′s. We found more interesting things to buy browsing through little shops on streets leading off Red Square.

Finally, a very late night transfer to the domestic airport for a four-hour flight east to Barnaul, the main city of the Altai region.