Wednesday 13 September 2017

Arriving in Moscow

Marina on the Moscow Waterway.



Childrens play area and park.



Approaching the Moscow Canal.



Past these 'gates'.



How the other half live No 3 - rich man's marina with large motor cruisers.



The other end of the economy - scrap metal barge heading north.



I think this may be an old bell tower.





How the other half live No 4 - apartment building complex in northern Moscow.

The next few photos are a bit self-indulgent - so those with a nervous disposition look away now.......

On previous visits to Moscow I had photographed this Alekseyev A-90 Orlyonok (Eaglet) Ekranoplan.......



.... never once imagining that one day I would be on the opposite shore (note the ships in the background).



Previous photo of the A-90 - the vertical struts are not part of the machine - they are there to display the Orlyonok' as if in 'flight'.



Taken from the Viking Ingvar as we approach to dock and part of a small Russian Navy museum.
The A-90 is designed to skim across the waves a few metres above the surface -
powered by two jet engines in the nose and a turboprop at the top of the fin.



Note the turboprop and short wings.



Also part of the museum is this Project 641B submarine 'Novosibirsk Komsomolets' (NATO Foxtrot).....



.... and a 'SKAT' hovercraft.



A last look at the A-90.

Normal service will now be resumed....



Approaching our berth at the North River Terminal.



The magnificent old Soviet river terminal built in 1937 - now being restored.



1933 Volga to Moscow 1937.

Moscow City Tour

Starting our Moscow Metro tour - descending the escalator at Dynamo......



... with a sporting motif in the ceiling....



Sasha greeting us at Mayakovskaya.....



Bronze statue of a partizan at Ploshchad Revolyutsii......



.... and a mineworker.



Rubbing the nose of the dog for luck - but not helping with the crush of tourists.



Emerging from the metro near Red Square....



Part of the old Kremlin walls - now a coffee shop.



Teatralnaya Metro station as Kay leads the way to Red Square.



What would Lenin say ?? - water skiing near Red Square.



Passing the exit from Red Square by the Resurrection Gate. Note the double-headed eagles.



Our rendezvous point for later - the statue of Georgi Zhukov.



Looking back as we wait for the toileteers. The statute of Zhukov is around the corner on the right.



Red hair, Red Square.



The State Historical Museum - we entered just off to the left.
Moscows main airport is Sheremetyevo 1 & 2 - after Mathias Rust landed his Cessna in Red Square,
Moscow wags quickly renamed the square 'Sheremetyevo 3'



Recently restored Kazan Cathedral tucked away in the corner.



GUM (Glávnyj Universáĺnyj Magazín, literally "Main Universal Store").



Beijing WI on tour? - game for a laugh Chinese ladies.



Lenin's Mausoleum - from where the Soviet leaders took the salute.



GUM in Cyrillic.



Cathedral of Vasily the Blessed - or St Basils Cathedral - at the far end of Red Square.



Statue of Minin and Pozharsky outside St Basils.



A new park area - where the 3,000 room Hotel Rossiya used to stand - it was demolished in 2006 (I stayed there in 2004).



Strolling around St Basils.



Going round the cathedral.



St Barbara's Church on Varvarka St.



View across the new park to one of the Seven Sisters buildings. This one is the Kotelnicheskaya Embankment Building.



Inside GUM - where we stopped for an ice cream (and even that was expensive!!)



Another Russian wedding party doing the rounds.



Central water fountain - full of melons.



How the other half live No 4.



Emerging from GUM - by the Kazan Cathedral.



Lenin and Putin having a rest from a busy schedule......



... now joined by Uncle Joe Stalin. For a modest(?) fee, you could have your photo taken with them.

Free enterprise at work.



Beijing WI still having fun.



The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier outside the square.



The Eternal Flame.



The hourly Changing of the Guard - slow, deliberate goosesteps.



The old guard relieved.......



... he joins his comrade......



... and heads back to barracks for a well-earned cup of tea.



What would Lenin say???



This dome is the centrepiece of a large underground shopping mall called Okhotny Ryad.



From the inside, Moscow is at the centre of the world! From bottom to top - Rabat, Gibraltar, Lisbon, Madrid - with London near the apex.



Counting down to the 2018 World Cup - being held in Russia.



Nearly at our rendezvous point.



One last pose....



Heading back to our coaches....



.... across the road from the Bolshoi Theatre.



Looking up towards Lubyanka Square.
The building on the left with the 'DM' logo on top is Detsky Mir (Childrens World) - a large childrens department store.
The building straight ahead is the KGB (now FSB) headquarters.
Muscovites call it the 'Hotel Lubyanka' - you can check in but you can't check out!



One of the oldest secular buldings in Moscow - the 'English Court'.



Cathedral of Christ the Saviour - from the coach window.



Another view of the Cathedral as we drive towards Sparrow Hills - the highest point in Moscow.



Statue of Peter the Great from the coach - disliked by Muscovites.

Sparrow Hills

Up on the escarpment of Sparrow Hills, these doves were in a laurel arch..... so I called Kay over to look.....



... when she was accosted by a trader trying to get her to pay for a photograph.



Looking down from the hills towards the Luzhniki Stadium.



Moscow skyline - with the new Moscow International Business Centre.



Another of the Seven Sisters - this time the Moscow State University -  framed by the countdown to a World Youth Festival.