We queued in the rain as we were there half hour early however we could see why as by the 10am opening time the queue was half way down the road. We finally got in unharmed just a bit cold and poked from the number of tourists with their umbrellas! We firstly entered the Armoury Museum which did have exhibitions of armour but there was much more to it. We saw the crowns, the thrones, the carriages, the dress but most of all their collection of gifts received from many countries. My personal favourite was the wine glass with 3 cups on it that were all linked by a tube so you could drink all 3 cups at once! Another was the cup that was given to anyone who came late, it had no bottom to it so you could not put it down. And if you tried to the bell on it would ring and the glass would be refilled in punishment! Once successfully finished you had to blow its whistle!
We then wandered around the many churches that are within the Kremlin walls. Actually we practically ran from one church to the next to escape the weather that was freezing, windy and wet. In the main church we listened to a very interesting summary of the history of the Tsars (royal family). There was a time of confusion that lasted 15 years where the natural blood line of the Tsars ended and the country was lost. Unfortunately we were unable to visit the embalmed body of Lenin as it was under restoration! After the tour we headed back to the hotel area and had lunch with Carla and Simon before meeting our taxi driver at the hotel lobby at 3pm.
We got to the train station in about 20 minutes then were told to wait in the car as our train did not leave until 5pm and the train opened for boarding from 4pm. So we sat in the warm and dry watching the world go by and completing puzzles without cheating for the first time with Simons help. We saw a guy pushing a luggage trolley along but with a bloke laying on the trolley! It was clearly quite normal as they went right the way along the road with no stares! We were happy to hear that Simon has bought a Russian rabbit fur hat today just like ours. We also learned from Dariah that it is the norm to wear the hats by the locals in the cities but when its about minus 20 degrees, not plus 6.5 degrees that it was today!
Our taxi driver helped us on the right carriage of the train and we all squeezed into our cosy cabin that the four of were sharing. We sat chatting for a while then went exploring to find the restaurant cart. I don’t particularly like the smoking sections between the carriages or the open floor bit where you jump between them! When I got to the restaurant bit, Jon had already discovered it and was sat sipping a beer so I joined him. We sat playing shit head (cards) where I was champion with a resounding 10 games to 5!
After a few beers, we designed a new trans Siberian train which started in Moscow and ended in Beijing but did not move as it had so many unique carriages it spanned the whole way. Every 10th carriage or so would be sleeping cabins and in between would be carriages such as bowling, swimming pool, darts, tennis, disco, pubs, cinema etc. We think we are on to a winner. The train is so hot, it’s a good job they have all the heaters on too! Serious melt down. We are in carriage number 13 and right near the end of the train. If we go left from our cabin and through a couple of doors there is a window with track rushing away from us. Hope I don’t sleep walk tonight!
You'll be pleased to know it's chucking it down with rain in England too, but we don't have the wonderful scenery to see that you have to take your mind off it. Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteLove Jill x