Moscow

We set out for Moscow on an overnight train. And since I didn't know what the sleeping circumstances would be when I originally booked, it turned out I was set to be in an upper class cabin away from the rest of the group. While at first I was a bit bummed to be away from my new friends, I decided it would be a welcome experience to fly solo for the night with some real Russians. I got to my cabin before my 3 other fellow guests - Olga, a nice, older Russian "Baboushka" and two young Russian men. I took a lower berth and read some magazines while everyone settled in. We communicated in broken Russian, English and hand gestures but all went smoothly. As the train pulled out at around midnight, we tucked in for sleep soon after. I could barely sleep a wink the whole ride. Breakfast (bread, cheese and salami) was served in the morning and I bought us all cappucinos from the coffee cart going by.

We arrived at our hotel - a former residence built for the Olympics in 1980 - to check our bags before making our way to Red Square by subway. After many photo ops with beautiful St.Basils we headed over to a very cool, new attraction. A secret Soviet cold war era bunker, only recently discovered, that sits 18 stories under the city. Apparently built in complete secrecy as a communication headquarters, there was even a fake apartment building sitting above it to protect its location. This was one of my favourite attractions ever - not only did we tour the facility, we could touch the artifacts and even try on some of the gear. Which, as you will see in my photos, I quite enjoyed.

After a delicious late lunch of Russian food at a local cafeteria style restaurant, we made our way underground to tour the beautiful subway stations - filled with statues, chandeliers and mosaics. I learned that superstitious Russians find it lucky to rub the golden statues as they pass - so I joined in too. 

That night I laid low and ordered in food to my room. This was extremely challenging to do in English - but the salad and plemeni (dumplings) were good. And though I can't be certain of the type of meat was in the plemeni, I ate every drop.

Day 2 was very cold, even by a Canadian's standards and I was very happy to have my mink hat and my warm Icelandic wool gloves. We toured the Kremlin - which was incredible - but I skipped out early to grab a beer and warm up with some Borscht at a cafe in Red Square.

Our afternoon was spent at the amazing Moscow Circus where I definitely felt like a kid again. It was a real highlight of my visit and I would encourage anyone (of any age) to put it on their list if heading to Moscow. Backed up by a Big Band, the performers put on a colourful, exciting and funny show that included trapeze artists, elephants, horses and a very funny monkey! Before the show - you can have your photo taken with cute animals like a leopard, baby lion and a monkey (wearing a track-suit and socks!).

We followed up the Circus with a delicious farewell dinner in Red Square...and with lots of vodka shots. As I had a late flight the next day, I chose to experience a Russian Banya (sauna) so I booked a private sauna room at the facility in our hotel. For about $40 I got a private area with a TV room, sauna and access to the pool. Wet birch twigs are provided to hit yourself with while in the steamy sauna room and then plunge into the cold pool. It sounds torturous, but it is very refreshing.

Refreshed and ready, I made my way to the Moscow airport to return to Paris before heading south to Africa, the third continent in my amazing adventure.