Moscow

Up at 5 to get ready for my 18 hour shore excursion to Moscow. Breakfast arrived late so it was a rush to get to the bus at 5:45 but I made it. Met up with Anne, another single on the trip so the 4 hours to Moscow went by pretty quickly. We were all dressed for St Petersburg weather, cold, windy and wet, when we noticed from the train that the sun was shining. The high in Moscow that day was 34 degrees - hot a la SE Asia. Anne took off her thermal underwear and I stripped off a few layers as well. Fortunately, we could leave all of our extra clothes on the bus while we were guided through the city. Our guide, Ludmilla, had a delightful, self-deprecating sense of humour and I really enjoyed her knowledgable commentary. We went first to the Kremlin, a huge complex of cathedrals and other buildings. We proceeded to the Armory where we were agog at the treasures housed inside. Lots of gold and precious stones and ornate objects. One of the highlights for me was the collection of Faberge eggs. Our other stop was Red Square where I knocked another sight off my bucket list - St. Basil's Cathedral. Also trooped through the GUM Department Store with all the top luxury shops. After this full day with only one break for a pastry and some cookies, we headed to the Hilton for supper. Beef Stoganoff was on the menu along with a shot of vodka that we had to convince our tour guides was part of the package. Luckily, I had tossed the tour description into my purse so had hard copy proof of the promise. The train trip home was uneventful but long. Arrived back around 12:30 a.m., woke up Norma to hear about her day and fell into an exhausted sleep to prepare for our last day in St. Petersburg and the Hermitage.