Tourist Weekend

today my colleague and new-found friend anne and i decided to be proper tourists.  we found a free walking tour company online and booked their 10:45 walking tour of red square.  it was phenomenal.  so much that we are going back tomorrow to take the paid 14:00 tour of the kremlin.  learned today that kremlin means "castle," there are many kremlins in russia, but the one in moscow is the biggest and most famous, so they just refer to it as "the kremlin."  never knew that!  my head is filled with all sorts of new facts about russian history - ancient and modern.  am learning so much already on this trip...i'm like a kid in a candy store.  and who knew what treasures and sweets i would find inside!  this is an amazing adventure.

anyway, going to make this post all about the pictures...it was super grey and cold and ICY.  so much ice.  we were slipping and sliding all over.  i can't believe it.  everything was draped in ice...tho it was "balmy" at 29 or 30 degrees!  suddenly the icy trains and set decor of the most recent anna karenina film don't seem like such an exaggeration...

we totally found the sochi merch store!  in the GUM shopping center.  they had a dj, and all of the mascots out dancing and available for photos (we took them...waiting for anne to send them to me).  and i picked out my new winter ski outfit.  and some other fine sochi 2014 souveniers to send home.

memorial to the Patriotic War (ie war with napoleon).  not to be confused with the Great Patriotic War (WWII).  this one was built with rubble from all of the buildings napoleon destroyed (according to one account he destroyed them) while occupying moscow.  you can go inside the little cave behind the columns...there is an urban legend that if you toss a coin up onto a high ledge inside the cave, you'll get your wish.  the icy cold northern version of trevi fountain.  i totally did it.  

soviet-era poster on display at the GUM.  this one is a poem written by a famous russian poet...something about how the bombs are like pacifiers, and they are so good, this guy will suck them until death.  inspiring, yes?

st basil's.  whose proper name is actually the intercession cathedral, as it was to commemorate the capture of the kazan territory by ivan the terrible on the orthodox religious holiday of intercession.  but no one remembers that name anymore.  st basil comes from a guy named basil, who was more or less a crazy homeless peasant living in red square during ivan the terrible's reign.  people thought he was a mystic, and could cure them of their diseases and things.  when he died, he was buried outside the kremlin walls, near where the church is now.  even his burial site was said to cure diseases, and when they dug him up to build the cathedral, the body had not rotted at all, so they declared him a saint!  and buried him in a small chapel of the cathedral, and called that st basil's.  but everyone just started referring to the whole church as st basil's and the name stuck!

at the countdown-to-sochi clock in red square!  with a hat knit by my friend laura, and boots given to me by my friend les.  i stayed nice and toasty due to these kind friends!

view of more churches and buildings near red square in the "moscow baroque" style.  the red with white outline is specific to moscow.

the snowy path to our hotel from the metro station.

hard to believe that in the GUM, where there were once bread lines for days, are now luxury shops, including this one selling only champagnes...i wonder what breshnyev would think...

again, the clock with red square in the background.

like i said, we are going back for more tomorrow.  going to the armoury museum to see guilded carriages, faberge eggs, and golden teasets.  then a tour of the kremlin by airat, our fave new muscovite guide!