We met for the first time, and the first impression was just as I hoped for.

This morning it was snowing and everything was set for a wonderful day cruising the streets; as you should in a new big city, especially with as much history as this one! How can you go wrong! We are staying at Tverskaya Loft, which happens to be in the middle of the city along Tverskaya St, just south from Pushkin monument. Highly recommended! So,  today we had lots on our agenda. Much to see,  and not much time. We started walking down towards Red Square and on the way down we stopped at Bolshoi theatre,  supposedly one of the most famous theatres in the world. I tried to look for tickets to a show last night,  but can you believe it was all sold out; outrageous. At least we got a few pictures.. And while I was taking pictures of Sarah,  two reporters came over and said they were from Russian TV and asked if I could talk a bit about the theatre. It just so happens that I am often doing some research before we are visiting new places, and that certainly paid off this time. Though I had to give up on doing it in Russian,  pretty tough language that one!

From Bolshoi,  it’s just a five minute walk to Kremlin and Red Square. We decided to save Kremlin for tomorrow,  but we certainly cruised around on the square and that is just fabulous. It’s just so mighty, exactly how you would expect Russia to be! Historical buildings, loud Russian music over the speakers, and a few people here and there waving red communist flags are putting you right into that old Soviet feeling that I’ve never experienced, but can swear I felt regardless of that!

I guess I should mention that these guys we saw waving red flags picturing the hammer and the sickle were also carrying flowers and pictures of Lenin. We followed them up to Lenin’s mausoleum where they had a little ceremony. Quite a sight!

In one of the pictures a bit further up,  you could probably notice the highlight of the day,  St. Basil’s Basilica. Such a magnificent building.  Being here, seeing this during winter and in snowfall on top of it all has been something I’ve wanted for a long time. It would be a lie saying anything else. It’s just an architectural wonder. You have probably seen hundreds of pictures,  and now I’ll show you a couple more, but being there is just something different. It’s easily worth the trip my opinion.

When we finally found our way back out from the square, we jumped on (literally) something that probably is a bit unorthodox. Or I guess that really depends how you look at it, because people are doing it every second. Riding the Metro, but not just any Metro… The Moscow metro that is just one big tourist attraction. Why? Because of the stations, and how they are built. First we took it to the Park Pobedy station, the deepest one in Moscow and the third deepest in the world with it’s 84 meters below. A giant bomb shelter under the entire city also featuring a metro, why not. I genuinely felt sorry though for the people having to take the escalators up and down Park Pobedy every day, it took forever! Next, we jumped on the brown line (going in a circle connecting all lines together), seeking stations worth a visit and their picture taken. I guess we can say we’re feeling quite confident using the Moscow metro at this point, even though most is in Russian! Haha, I know you might be thinking it sounds boring as hell, but for me from Norway, having one city where Metro is an option and using five lines, is it? This was certainly something else, and some of the stations,  oh my…

A few hours from our first day in Moscow. If you enjoyed just half as much as we did,  I’m happy!

Until next time, Do svidaniya!