Moscow

We were met by honcho Anastasia and taken to our hotel only to find that part of it was being renovated and it was a building site with lots of red dust around! We had dinner in a nearby restaurant and tried a traditional drink - kavas - which was a bread yeast drink! It was not very nice!

The next day we finally got to explore Moscow and our first stop had to be the Kremlin. We went into the Armoury where they have an exhibition of treasures that were collected by the Russian church which included some beautiful eggs created by Faberge, state carriages and royal ceremonial clothes.

We wandered down to Sobornaya pl (Cathedral Square) and visited the number of palaces and churches there - Patriarch's Palace, Assumption Cathedral, Church of the Disposition of the Robe and Archangel's Cathedral as well as the Ivan the Great Bell Tower. All of the buildings were topped were gold domes and shone brightly in the sunshine.

We then walked over to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and caught the changing of the guard. After a 'business lunch' which included a first course of beetroot salad before taking a tour around the city, admiring the many churches and buildings.

We arrived back at Red Square and went to see St Basil's Cathedral. It is the most bizarre religious building that I have seen and used almost every colour imaginable on its turrets. Inside, there were fresco's on the walls which were beautiful. It also had a great view of Red Square.

We then went to a market before heading into the Vodka Museum and learnt about the history of vodka and how it is made. They also had some unusual designed bottles, such as a Kalashnikov rifle shaped one! We also had some complimentary vodka!

The next day, we went and saw Lenin's Mausoleum in Red Square. We were not allowed to stop inside and even walking slowly meant that we were shouted at by guards with guns! It is safe to say that Lenin was not looking his best!

That afternoon, we went to the Central Museum of the Revolution which documented the Russian Revolutions of the early 20th century and its involvement in World War Two. It was fascinating and even included some propaganda posters of the time.

We walked up to the university and to a view point which laid out the whole city in front of us. We had fun trying to spot the sights! On the way back, we stopped at several Metro stations as they are beautifully decorated and very ornate! We also popped into a shop that had a beautifully decorated ceiling.

That night, we went back to Red Square to see it all lit up. It was beautiful. We headed over to the train station and caught the 12:30am overnight train to our final destination, St Petersburg!