Moscow City Tour

This morning I went on a complementary Moscow city tour that CHI provides to adopting families.   My tour guide was Olga, Olga trains other tour guides so you can imagine how much she knows.  Since I went to Red Square on my own the other day, we decided not to go to Red Square and to see some other sites that are not normally included in the tour.  The tour included a Russian history lesson because a lot of the buildings we saw were built, torn down and/or rebuilt after a war, revolution or change in leadership.  Olga also took me to a shop to buy some Russian souvenirs.  The tour was very nice except for the weather, it was very cloudy and windy so the pictures are not great but I did enjoy the tour.

After the tour we went to the Notary, a process that normally takes no more than an hour, usually less, took us over four hours.  Ultimately the documents were prepared properly and I signed them.  Then an hour ride in traffic back to the hotel.  When I got backto the hotel, I went for a walk until it got too cold to be outside.

Tomorrow I come home and wait for a court date.

Some pictures from today's tour and a little bit of what Olga told me.

Me in front of the Kremlin.

The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour.  It was originally built commerating the victory over Napoleon.  It was demolished in 1931 to make way for Stalin's Palace of the Soviets.  The palace was never completed and the foundation of the building became the world's largest outdoor swimming pool.  We went inside, the art work, the alters and design are spectacular. 

The monument of Peter the Great.  Apparently this was originally comissioned by the United States to be a monument to Christopher Columbus but the United States did not like the monument so the artist put a new head on it and here it is.  Notice that the ship looks like a Spanish ship.

The Novodevichy Convent was built for Nuns from high ranking and royal families.  At one time there were 10,000 peasants to tend to the needs of the Nuns.  It is adjoined by a cemetary for the rich and famous, war heroes and politicians.  You have to be approved by the state to be buried in the cemetary.

The tall building in the back of this picture is one of the Seven Sisters.  They are a group of skyscrapers built in Moscow, each with a huge star on the top that can be seen from very far away.

Posted at 7:21 PM.