Welcome to page 2 of our Moscow adventure.

We emerged from the Teatralnaya Metro station at Manezhnaya Square very close to Red Square, which was our next destination. The Manezhnaya Square forms a vital part of downtown Moscow, connecting Red Square with a major traffic artery, Tverskaya Street (formerly Gorky Street), which starts here and runs northward in the direction of Saint Petersburg.

      
    

Entering Red Square through the Resurrection Gate we had about 30 minutes to explore it on our own. Lee and I walked along the wall of the Kremlin (which means fortress), past the GUM department store, Lenin's tomb (which had closed for the day an hour earlier) and down to St. Basil's Cathedral for a quick look around.

    
      

St. Basil's cathedral was commissioned by Ivan the Terrible and built between 1555 and 1561 to commemorate the capture of the Khanate of Kazan. Saint Basil's consists of nine chapels built on a single foundation and leaves a pretty strong impression.

    

Reaching the far end of Red Square, it was time to turn around and hustle back to the Resurrection Gate to rejoin our group. The Square itself is around 400 meters (1300 feet) long and 150 meters (490 feet) wide so it's a bit of a hike. As a matter of interest, the name Red Square is not due to the colour of the bricks around it, nor from the link between the colour red and Communism. The name came about because the Russian word krasnaya can mean either "red" or "beautiful". The word was originally applied to Saint Basil's Cathedral, and therefore transferred to the nearby square. And, as major streets of Moscow radiate from here in all directions, becoming major highways outside the city, Red Square is often considered the central square of Moscow and of all Russia.

    
  

Meeting up again with our guides, Carole and LeVerne and the rest of our fellow travellers, we made our way out of Red Square and over to the Hotel Metropol. Arriving at this eloquent establishment, we were ushered to an upstairs room for coffee, cakes and cookies. The Hotel Metropol is a historical 5-star hotel located in the city center opposite the Bolshoi Theater and within a 3 minutes walk from the Red Square and the Kremlin.

    
  

Refreshed somewhat, out we went and off to tour the Kremlin. The Moscow Kremlin is a historic fortified complex at the very heart of Moscow that has been around as early as the 11th century in one form or another. We reached the outer walls after a short bus ride that took us past the former headquarters of the K.G.B., the Lubyanka. We were told that after the dissolution of the KGB, the Lubyanka became the headquarters of the Border Guards; of whom we were assured are way different. Okay then.

      
    

Click on the button below to continue on to page 3 of our Moscow adventure.