Rendevous in Red Square

Onion domes of the Kremlin, and Lena at Kolomenskoe, by the Moskva river

So, after all the hassle of organising visa, flight, and almost every other administrative matter associated with travelling to Russia, I finally made it to Sheremetyevo airport in Moscow.

I was lucky enough to stay with my friend Lena in Moscow, who kindly showed me around, helped me decipher the transport systems (the stations in the Metro are only shown in Cyrillic) and took me around the best sites.

Vladimir, whose family made my Matrioshka doll, at his stall on Arbat

During my time in Moscow, I visited the Kremlin to say hi to Mr Putin, saw the sights of the famous Red Square (surprisingly the name does not originate from Soviet times, the Russian word Krasnae actually meant beautiful, and has also come to mean red in relatively recent times) and St Basil's, the brightly coloured cathedral. We also saw the Pushkin Fine Arts Museum, the Tretyakov gallery (both containing some brilliant artworks), Kolomenskoe park, a fabulous green area on the banks of the Moskva River and the Novodevichy Convent, all very worthwhile.

I even managed to learn a bit of Russian! Niet (No) is a word you learn pretty quickly... 'Adin pozhalsta' was my next word - this means 'one please'. The only complication was when I needed to use a different number. Lastly of course, being my ever polite self - 'Spasibo' meaning thankyou.

Moscow is a city of contrast. A city of rich imperial and religious importance (many of the Russian Orthodox Church's most important locations are in Moscow), is constantly contrasted with the Soviet history, which for most Russians is a time they can remember well. Much of the residential accomodation was built in Soviet times, slowly being demolished and replaced with modern apartment buildings, and statues of Lenin, and monuments to the 'Great Patriotic War' stand beside monoments to Dostoyevsky, Gogol, Pushkin and other Russian cultural greats.

Novodevichy Convent

Left, the brightly coloured St Basil's cathedral in Red Square, and contrast of the Soviet and Orthodox Russia - The Soviet 'Russia' Hotel from a time where religion was outlawed, and the domes of a Russian Orthodox church. Contrasts are everywhere in Russia...