Tour of Moscow

Moscow was our very first stop in Russia. I wanted to blog these from the beginning but the internet here is much faster than it was... when we got here, we were met by a driver who drove us to the heart of moscow and took us on several hours of tour by foot. We were exhausted but it was quite amazing and that wasn't lost on us. Reese, these are esp. for you bud since I know you've been waiting to see what the buildings look like. Moscow is a huge city.. It is surrounded by a 75 klm circular highway. And it is jam packed with buildings everywhere you look. America is a bit over 200 years old but there are many buildings here that are much older than that. It is a city rich in history. Its interesting to see a 300 year old building right next to a modern building that was built only 5 or so years ago. The mix of old and new is everywhere. The building below is in Red square. We didn't get as close as you usually can go because they were preparing for an upcoming military parad on the 9th (the day we leave which we're told could make things a little hectic for getting to the airport). The military is very celebrated here. Their patriotism was striking to us. There were hundreds of people lined up on the streets just to watch the parade rehearsals.... which really only consisted of army machinery and many men in uniform. VERY interesting.

The man above is 'Paul'- I think the Russian name is Vladimir. He was the one who picked us up at the airport, gave us a tour, ate dinner with us and got us to our train in Kursk. A very kind and intelligent man... We were very grateful to him. Below is the military machinery that they were rehearsing for the upcoming parade. People were very interested in watching this.

The clock below is also from Red square.

Below is the 'metro', the very large underground subway system... quite extensive. There were many archways like this with statues on either side made of bronze.

Below are walk up shops... very popular here in Russia.

Just as you see old and new in the buildings... so it is with the people. This is how most of the older women look. In Kursk many women dressed like this are working their garden. The older people like to still be apart of the action and seem to work very hard.

As we were driving, of course I noticed the different license plates... I hope this is legal.