MOSCOW, DAY 1

We saw people having a picnic on the banks of the Moscow Canal as we approached Moscow. After lunch we went on a city tour that included a scenic look-out with motorcycles and brides.





















We took a ride on the Moscow Metro. Each station is a separate work of art filled with statues and marble floors and different kinds of wood. Also, it has the longest and deepest escalator in the world.






We are now in Red Square which is huge and surrounded by the Kremlin, the Lenin tomb, St Basil's Cathedral and The Gum Department store.




The statues here contain the ashes of the previous Soviet leaders.



Everyone gets their picture taken in front of St. Basil's.




Here is St. Basil's with the top showing.



This is a beautiful church on Red Square. I bought this Madonna icon before I saw it here.
We walked to the Bolshoi Theater, pictured below, but it is being renovated so we saw a performance of Esmeralda in another theater. It was magnificent.









Our last stop of the evening was the bar on the 12th floor of the Ritz Hotel. We went outside on their rooftop and could see all of Red Square lit up like a fairyland. I never thought I would describe Red Square in Moscow as a fairyland! Our cab home was twice what we agreed to pay but we decided we were just glad to be safely back at the ship at 12:30am, 45 minutes from Moscow with a non-English speaking driver!