scubacruiserx2

After our visit to Moscow we took the Metro to an pretty church in Saint Petersburg called Chesme . https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chesme_Church As we were there we saw a group of children from the public school being bussed to the church for a field trip . Can you imagine that happening in our public schools ? The graves behind it were decorated for Victory Day . Inside of the church was a service with the priest sprinkling incense in front of the icons . In my Bible reading this morning it says about Israel , " But the more they were called , the more they went away from me . They sacrificed to the Baals and burned incense to images . " Is this a violation of the second commandment ? “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

Our favorite church in Moscow is the Cathedral of Christ the Savior The original church was build to honor Christ the Savior by Alexander I "to signify Our gratitude to Divine Providence for saving Russia from the doom that overshadowed Her" when attacked by Napoleon in 1812 . The current church is the second to stand on this site. The authentic church, built during the 19th century, took more than 40 years to build, and was the scene of the 1882 world premiere of the 1812 Overture by Tchiakovsky . Wikipedia

We surfaced and began a walking tour with the building on the 100 Ruble note - the Bolshoi Ballet Theatre founded in 1776 , the year of of the USS's independence . Bolshoi means big or large and the note is worth 1 US Dollar . We loved the way that the fountain in the front formed a water curtain . https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolshoi_Ballet Visiting here reminded me of a song from when i was in High School called Pretty Ballerina by the Left Banke.

The last station that we visited was Belorusskaya a station with panels in the ceiling that pictured everyday peaceful life in the USSR . It's in the last panel that we see ( or don't see that counts ) . Originally there was a picture of Uncle Joe Stalin that was removed under the de - Stalinization program of removing him from history . De-Stalinization (Russian: десталинизация, romanized: destalinizatsiya) comprised a series of political reforms in the Soviet Union after the death of long-time leader Joseph Stalin in 1953, and the thaw brought about by ascension of Nikita Khrushchev to power,[1] and his 1956 secret speech "On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences", which denounced Stalin's cult of personality and the Stalinist political system. Monuments to Stalin were removed, his name was removed from places, buildings, and the state anthem, and his body was removed from the Lenin Mausoleum (from 1953 to 1961 known as Lenin and Stalin Mausoleum) and buried. Wikipedia The last mosaic known as “Embroiderers,” originally included a portrait of Stalin, but during the de-Stalinization period it was replaced with the Order of the Red Banner of Labor (hammer and sickle). The large mosaic in the previous station suffered a similar fate when the image of Stalin was replaced by a dove of Peace .

At this end end the station was a mosaic that says "Peace Throughout the World." It is the Novoslobodskaya Station . Looking back from the train platform and waiting for a train at the platform

We went down in the Metro at Ploshchad Revolyutsii ( Revolution Square ) . Rubbing this dogs nose is said to bring good luck and that's why it is discolored . The last photo is Lyudimila Mykhailivna Pavlichenko (12 July 1916 – 10 October 1974 was a Soviet sniper. She shot German soldiers in World War 2. She was one of the top military snipers of all time, and is credited with 309 kills.[1] She was the most successful female sniper in history. Wikipedia She toured the US during WW II to try to convince us to open a second front from the West against Germany before D-day .

Our next stop was the Moscow Armory to see it's collection of Fabege Eggs . There was a long line to get in and our guide could not go with us past the book shop . We found the Eggs and took a photo until we were told no photos . We did buy a book at the book shop so we took photos from the book and found a video on line .

Our guide had promised us a special changing of the guard but we must first enter the Kremlin in the rain . Notice that we are wearing our Russian camouflage , i.e. Black . Behind this photo of the Calvary you can see the Tzar Cannon which has the largest caliber bombards in the world . https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsar_Cannon The Tzar Bell is the largest Bell in the world . https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsar_Bell

The fountains of the Alexander Gardens Near our hotel was the Four Seasons Hotel ( was the Hotel Moskva formerly ) is on the label of Stolichnaya Vodka .

20 min to the port is great . We're 75 to Ft. Lauderdale . We are doing better with Pat and we caught the Rocky the Racoon . We were trying to meet you guys in Tampa but our Thanksgiving with the family begins on that day . We did the Canal both ways so if you might like some tips on most of the places we may be able to help if you would like . Here's the East to West review :

We had some free time before meeting our guide so we went for a quick walk across the street . There is a 3 story mall beneath these domes across from hotel called Okhotniy Ryad . The center dome has a map of the world when seen from the mall underground . Not my video

After popping up I was near the State Historical Museum and the Resurrection Gate that leads to Red Square . Red Square wasn't open yet But the Kazan Cathedral was https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kazan_Cathedral,_Moscow Returning to the Hotel for breakfast

I was awake before my wife and breakfast and took my camera for a walk . I found a colorful underpass to cross the busy street to Red Square under the street . The State Historical Museum and the Resurrection Gate that leads to Red Square

Breakfast at the National The buffet The Chef The dining room The plate The View of Red Square

We met Michael and Anna while waiting in a long line to board a cruise in South America . We were behind them and they were speaking in Russian and I started a conversation with them in Russia . They were very surprised that we could speak Russian . We had a nice cruise with them and they invited us to meet if we went back to Moscow . Dinner was next at another Ukrainian Restaurant with strolling musicians this time . We walked them to their Metro station and said goodbye before walking back past the Kremlin , which we would explore in the morning , to our hotel .

Well hello Tony and Antony . We hope that you are well and enjoying life . Any cruises planned ? We have had a busy Spring with some racoons in the roof , meeting our new in laws and a case of identity theft . What a pain ! Additionally , Pat was in the hospital last week. If you would like to chat please use our scubacruiserx2 @gmail.com account . @F19810 We will bounce this question off of our TA here in Florida who is pretty up on these things and return with an answer if she can be of any help .

Our friends called for us early and we found out from them that the State Historical Museum was open for free and that they we having a tribute to WW II , so went there first before dinner . There is a statue of General Zhukov a hero of WW II and WW I In front https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgy_Zhukov It was mostly Soviet propaganda WW II posters that I got a kick out of . There were some American thinks as well like a Tommy Gun . Here's a photo from Wikipedia showing the ornate building inside

After this our guide took us to check in our hotel before we met our friends for dinner . It was directly across the street from Red Square . It has a very long and storied history and was the most that we had paid for a hotel room up to that point , but we bit the bullet and paid it . It included a BIG breakfast . https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotel_National,_Moscow It had doormen open the doors for us , a first for us . Pat checking in and our guide in the foreground . The sitting room The Common area Our bed room

Inside of GUM ( pronounced goom in English ) Extreme close up . A DSLR is considered a sign of wealth in Russia . Most people have cell phones but can't afford cameras .

What we see from left to right in the last photo is : The Kremlin ( Fortress in a city) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kremlin Lenin's Mausoleum https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenin's_Mausoleum We found this photo on line even though photography is forbidden Taking photos of Lenin's body isn't permitted. This rare shot shows the revolutionary leader in October 1991. AFP/AFP/AFP/Getty Images The State Historical Museum is the large red building which we would visit later that evening with our cruise friends from Moscow https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_Historical_Museum The Resurrection Gate and Chapel Destroyed in 1931 by the Soviet regime, the Gate and the Chapel were rebuilt in the 1990s. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iberian_Gate_and_Chapel And GUM Department store which we visited next is 800 ' long . GUM (Russian: ГУМ, pronounced [gum], an abbreviation of Russian: Главный универсальный магазин, romanized: Glavnyy universalnyy magazin, lit. 'Main Universal Store') https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GUM_(department_store)

We were at # 37 on this map of the Kremlin so we decided to walk to the right of this map and see Red Square . Nothing says Moscow more than Red square and nothing says Red Square than Saint Basil's Cathedral . A Babushka sweeping the street . The stands were for the Victory Day Parade in Red Square . The Red building on the right is where Lenin is entombed and you can see his preserved body , creepy to us but there was a big line to see him . The roof of the tomb is where the President and other high ranking people watch the parade . Minin and Pozharsky statue outside While it is beautiful outside it's rather plain on the inside . It had began to rain and we took this photo from the front looking back across Red Square with some places annotated in black if you enlarge the photo by clicking on it .

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is in the Alexander Garden https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Garden In the upper part of the garden is a grotto using rocks from when Napolean invaded Moscow and the Russians set fire to Moscow in a Scorched Earth policy that they also did in WW II when Germany invaded . When the French Grande Armee invaded Russia they had 685,000 men that constituted the initial invasion force . But only 93,000 survived to leave Russia . In front of the Grotto is a obelisk celebrating 300 years of the Romanov rule . Lunch was at a Ukrainian place

We popped up from the Moscow Metro like 3 groundhogs on February 2nd . We were there in time for the changing of the guard at the tomb of the unknown soldier near the Kremlin wall . The video It reminded me of when I was on a drill team in the Navy in 1973 . But our team carried the 50 state's flags and I carried a sword .

The Kiyevskaya Station shows mosaics of life in the Ukraine and is near to the train station to the Ukraine . All of the photos are ours except the panel at the end of the hall from Wikipedia

A map of Moscow from above Komsomolskaya Station is one of the busiest is near 3 rail stations including Leningrad ( Saint Petersburg ) It has mosaics of victories on the ceilings . 1292 Alexander Nevsky leading Russian orthodox vs Roman Catholics 1612 Minin and Pozharsky vs Poland attacking Moscow . Their statute is in front of Saint Basil's Cathedral in Red Square 1945 Soviet Union troops at the Reichstag building in Berlin Bust of Lenin under the Coat of Arms of the Soviet Union