June 24th Arriving in Moscow

The day started so beautifully, tranquil in fact, as we sailed past holiday makers camping beside the Volga.  It is another very warm day.  We passed many fishermen and swimmers having great fun.  Most returned a wave as we sailed by.  We passed a small village which was really pretty. We traveled along the Moscow Canal.   Bit by bit the houses got more and more grander as we got closer to Moscow. 

We docked to the sound of the ‘Moscow Anthem’, it was really exciting.  Lunch time and then out onto the buses for our 7 km drive into the city centre.  No one knows how many people actually live in Moscow.   The population is 17 million but there are thought to be another few million illegals living here.  The trip could take about an hour to travel the 7 km.  The traffic near the docks was busy but once we got onto the main roads it was another story – It was like a parking area.  Four lanes both ways and stop start most of the way.  Later we got onto wider roads 7/8 lanes each side.  There were ambulances with their sirens going just stop starting along with the rest of us.  Even busloads of police were caught in the traffic jam – sirens and lights going and no-one moving over to let them through.

We finally got there in only ¾ hour – ahead of schedule??  From the bus we followed our guides around to Red Square.  There is to be a visit by Mr. Putin tomorrow to this area and also they are setting up for a book fair so entry this area was blocked by security.  This meant we could only take photos of St Basil’s Cathedral and leave our tour of the inside to another day.  And so we had some free time.  We spent this time just wandering taking a few photos.  It was then time to gather back on the bus and off to the canal to take a scenic trip on the Moscow River to look at some of the many beautiful land marks from the water.  There is a lot of parkland and instead of a lot of lawn and a few trees scattered around the edges in Moscow the trees are more like a forest – really beautiful.  People were walking along the paths beside the River , others riding bikes and many were enjoying laying in the sun.  We went under one bridge – the longest in Moscow, 1 km long which is a double decker – cars on the top and trains on the bottom.  There is even a train station in the middle of the bridge.   

So 1 ½ hours later, back on to the buses and back to our boat.  Oh boy the traffic.  The main road we traveled on was the Lennon Prospect.  It has eight lanes each way – amazing.  The traffic was bumper to bumper – still more ambulances with lights flashing, a few tractors and trucks even two street washing trucks drove along washing the roads.  None of us had ever seen traffic like it.  It took 1 ½ hours to get home.  We all decided that if we lived in Moscow we probably wouldn’t go out much.