One of the things we like to do when we have visitors is take them out to eat for some borscht. The Restaurant MooMoo (looks like MyMy in Russian) has the best borscht. Too bad for some people we didn't discover that until after they visited us. Here is Oliver in front of the cow in front of the MyMy restaurant on Old Arbat street.
We always take people to Red Square within the first 24 (if not 4) hours of their visit. At St. Basils.
One day I took Karleen and my mother-in-law to see Christ the Redeemer. It is my favorite church in Russia. Levin has yet to see it because he thinks it's not special since it was rebuilt less than 10 years ago. Stalin blew it up and it didn't get rebuilt until recently. I however, LOVE IT. You are not allowed to take pictures on the inside which is too bad because it is so beautiful inside.
We went to Novodovechy (sp?) convent and there was a Kroshka Kartoshka near by. I hardly ever get to eat there, but I love baked potatoes and that's mostly what it is - a baked potato fast food place. We also went to the Tretrekov art gallery a place I hope to talk Levin into going back with me. But I guess since this was their vacation, not mine, I didn't really take any pictures. A lot of these are borrowed from my in-laws' camera.
From the Embassy you have a nice view of the White House - Russian parliament.
We did a Kremlin tour. I don't really have any pictures of the insides of the churches. I learned about the churches in differing order, but last month someone pointed out to me that one church was baptisms, one coronations, and one burials. Interesting.
I think, but can't swear to it, that I was walking under those domes in May whenI had a Kremlin Palace tour.
Please notice the two buildings. The one on the right, that is a big cover up to hide the scaffolding underneath. I love this idea. It is kind of silly, but hey, who wants to see a bunch of ugly scaffolding This way you get to see what the building is supposed to look like at least.
My mother-in-law in front of the Pushkins. I always refer to them as Joseph and Emma Smith since that's who they remind me of.
My in-laws have fantastic luck. One day while we went to Red Square the Eternal Flame was blocked off and we stopped to stare from above since we couldn't get close and saw that what appeared to be Putin was laying a wreath that day. Imagine the luck. THEN they went back to Red Square another day and it just so happened to be the day Lenin's tomb was re-opened. It had been closed for maintenance. It wasn't open just to anybody until a few weeks later, but I guess just for special people who loved him . . not sure who. BUT they somehow got in the middle of all these people even though Red Square was closed off.
They got swept in and there was no other way to get out, other than through the tomb. So the guards pushed them through. Otherwise they wouldn't have been able to see it because it wasn't reopened to the general public until after they left.
A cool looking church on Ketay Gorod.
As I mentioned above I love the church Christ the Redeemer (or Christ the Savior) and here you can see it in the background in all its glory.
Levin and I had honestly never really paid much attention to Moscow City, but interestingly 4 of these are in the top 7 tallest buildings in Europe. It's not an easy place to get to, but Levin's Dad walked there at least twice.
We went to the Circus. It was fun! I had been with my brother Randy less than a month before so it was the same show, but I still enjoyed it. Our seats were not as good as when I went with Randy even though I'd talked Levin into the higher price Randy paid. Oh well.
I can't remember if I posted this or not, but this is supposed to be Peter the Great, here on the Moscow River. People wonder why Peter the Great is here in Moscow, not St. Petersburg. Rumor has it that this man is actually Columbus and it was supposed to be a gift to the US, but then something happened to damage the relationship so they chopped off Columbus's head and put on Peter's. Who is to say it's not true?
This is the front of our church building.
Levin posed for his Dad to take his picture as bishop - before church of course, not during.
Kuskovo Palace. We went in October. I love how quiet it is there and the grounds are nice.
Gotta Love this matching furniture and wall paper right?
This got out of order somehow. this is the bell at the Kremlin. See the building with the fake facade in the back ground.
Also at the Kremlin.
Wow what a trip! We need to come someday. I wonder how long you guys have left there?
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