A Final Farewell

September 10th 2017

Today is our last day in Moscow before we take the overnight train to St Petersburg.

We still have lots to do so its going to be a jam-packed day. Firstly, and thankfully for the last time, breakfast in this hotel! I have now perfected cheese and salami on toast and home made egg mayo (requires one boiled egg and one sachet of mayo!). 

We are all packed and checked out of the hotel; only to return to pick up our luggage. Our first stop is the Radisson flotilla; we get the metro and walk the rest of the way in 20 degrees and sun! We are both really looking forward to sailing down the Moskva river and relaxing for a few hours; it has literally been non-stop since we arrived in Russia! We ordered a drink and some cake to keep us going....



The boat trip lasted two and half hours and was really enjoyable, apart from a few screaming children (one had a little plastic flute which Iain wanted to throw into the river, and also the flute), but they soon settled down as there was a children's entertainer on the boat. We took lots of photos and I had another wine to keep me going! This trip was rated above all others on tripadvisor; I definitely recommend it!

After the cruise, we walked back to the metro at Freedom Square so we could take it to Park Kultury and visit Gorky Park. The park had a complete makeover in 2011 and has been made into a really cool public space. What we didn't bank on was the continuation of Moscows birthday celebration. We queued to get into the park and then went through the usual security checks. 

The place is massive but there were so many things going on; art for children, weird theatre for adults, concerts at every corner and loads of other odd things...like getting your picture taken with a chinchilla on your head! We decided to have pizza and then find a spot to people watch by the river. It just so happened that there was a concert going on beside us too; Ed Sheerin has definitely made it to Russia, but he now has a weird Russian English accent!


Pizza

After a few hours, we decided to walk along the river towards Red Square. We grabbed an ice cream on the way and watched various other acts as we passed; there were mime artists, magicians and there was another concert outside the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. The concert was a bit like the Eurovision Song Contest but from what I could tell, one of the perfomers was reasonably well known!



We eventually got to one side of the Kremlin, right beside the presidents entrance when all traffic stopped and police cars were blocking roads. We had no idea what was happening but Iain had the go-pro ready.....it was President Putin! He went zooming passed us, literally 10 metres away! And we managed to film it! One woman walked by, said something in Russian, we said sorry English...she said very proudly, that's President Putin! Once I set up a You Tube account, I will post the link! It was actually quite impressive!



After feeling slightly overawed, we decided to head back to the hotel and pick up our luggage. Our St Petersburg bound train was leaving from Leningradsky station so we took the metro; it is so much asker than a taxi, even with luggage. We passed through the usual security checks and headed to TGI Fridays for a refreshing beer....awaiting the next adventure!

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