Wednesday actually began at the end of yesterday with our group of 27 catching the all night train to Moscow. We tried to sleep as best as possible to be well rested for our all day adventure, but have you ever tried to sleep on a train?! There was very little rest involved but at 6 am, whether we were ready or not we headed to the streets.
Our first stop was Red Square and the Kremlin. We all walked the perimeter of the Kremlin along the wall until we found our next destination, MacDonald’s for a hearty breakfast; well it was more like comfort food. I was delighted to have a real bathroom and took advantage of my extra time to wash up a bit and brush my teeth, it was definitely a highlight of my morning, that and coffee.
Moscow is definitely different then St. Petersburg, being a business center it was obvious how modern buildings built up the city. The old Moscow was still visible in the preserved areas, but also in the random old churches every few blocks. Like outside the MacDonald’s was a manmade canal with statues representing Pushkin’s Fairytales.
For 17 hours, we saw major attractions in Moscow and explored the city. While the student teachers went to the Anglo American School in Moscow for a tour and to visit, the rest of the group took the Metro out to University and OMG! The State University of Moscow’s main building is one of the city’s seven sisters, erected after WWII to commemorate the 15 nation states of Moscow that made up the Soviet Union. It was massive! St. Isaac’s Cathedral in St Petersburg is the second largest church in Russia, and this building was as tall as three (about 14 Elmira Colleges). The Kremlin Armory was close, but University was my favorite mini excursion.
Moscow was a trip of a lifetime, minus the whole living on a train for a night. It was definitely a success to. We only lost Ryan and Jenkins once and lost two in the metro. Before heading back to our home sweet hostel, we were given three hours to shop on Arbot Street, where we all remembered our fur hats and I spent more money than I have all tripJ
A metro tour was the last adventure of our day as we made our way to the train station. The metro stops are also soviet representations of the fifteen nation states and look like mini museums if you cut out the hoards of people and rushing metro cars. By the time we had to board the train back we were all wiped out and just ready to sleep, or try (remember that whole sleeping on a train concept).
Our adventure came to an end as our train stopped in St. Petersburg at six forty five this morning and by seven we were greeted by a delighted Timor with breakfast already on the table waiting.
-Angela
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