Wi-Fi along the Volga was non existent so have now arrived in St Petersburg with lots of catching up to do so lets get Moscow out of the way first.      My Kremlin Tour included all of the old favourites including The Tsar Bell & Cannon…..

The Cathedrals and Palaces….

The Walls & Towers……….

And a bunch of Guards strutting their stuff having just graduated……..

Volga Nightmare

As anticipated the Volga Dream 3-Day programme was somewhat of a disaster !!   An endless stream of impressionist art galleries and a city tour that wasn’t ………

Fortunately I was able to keep the steam from coming out of my ears as I had pretty much done it all before !!    Anyway a few highlights………

A park full of soviet statues that nobody knows what to do with but daren’t consign them to the scrapheap.   Including one of Uncle Joe with a broken nose !!

 

A few paintings from the Trechikov Gallery,   Or was it the Pushkin ???

With total Art overload looming I bailed from the main group and went to the Museum of Russian History at the end of Red Square.     Totally amazing, Not many photos but the heaviest book ever that anyone passing through Spain is welcome to inspect providing I can get it home !!

Then off down the Moscow Metro………..

A glimpse of The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour that was blown up during soviet times and turned into a swimming pool for the masses – There were many other grandiose plans that never came to fruition, so after the collapse of communism they decided to rebuild it from scratch in time for the 1997 anniversary celebrations.

More Art & Icons……………….

A backstage tour of the Bolshoi that never went backstage.   However since it has been restored and renovated is pretty impressive………Even from front of house………

Then more “city tour” in a low van with dirty windows and lots of traffic…

That was war memorial and monastery.    Then it was off to the boat (Volga Dream) home for the next week and embarkation..

A couple of The Gang – Bill & Susan, last view of Moscow and Wi-Fi

And sight of our first lock.    The first of many……

A great week lay ahead though Wi-Fi Free so will catch up and publish when I can

R