Moscow Day One

We walked down into the centre, maybe a mile, passing various smart shops and government buildings and one very smart hotel where the security men were checking underneath the cars before they allowed them to enter.

Red Square is huge, however we were not able to enjoy the full impact of it as stands are being erected for an international tattoo which will take place at the end of the month. We made our way to St Basil's cathedral, which is one of the iconic landmarks. It is an amazing structure with lots of small chapels inside linked by vaulted passages decorated with paintings or ornate plaster and brickwork.

We had lunch at the Bosco cafe at the entrance to the GUM store, here we made an expensive mistake!........putting the decimal point in the wrong place. The lunch was good but well over our usual budget!!;) after lunch we popped into the small Kazan Cathedral and then walked along the Alexander Gardens. It was a beautiful afternoon, sunny, but breezy, everyone out in their summer clothes, some somewhat amused by the Englishman Abroad striding along with his stick!! We also found the underground mall which had a food court with much more reasonable prices!!!

On the walk back to the hotel, we called in at the Yeliseevsky food hall, a nineteenth century gourmet merchandiser ( says the guidebook!) which is now home to a food store, wines and souvenirs. It was wonderful and we may return there to buy a few supplies for our next train trip.