June 25th Moscow Metro

We headed out after brekkie with rain starting to fall.  Our trip back into the city was a bumper to bumper trip like yesterday and then quite suddenly the road cleared, well comparatively anyway and we made our destination in only ¾ hour for our 7 km trip.  We drove past some more landmarks of Moscow, a few photo stops but I didn’t want to chance making my cold bad again so I took some shots through the bus window.

Next was a visit to the Moscow Metro - which is all underground– we hopped onto an escalator which sped down 87 metres, taking 3 minutes to do so.  At the start you can’t see where the bottom is.  People still rush down the stairs (illegally) to get to the bottom even faster.  From here we boarded the next train – still with our radio receivers on – and got off at the next stop.  I was most surprised to see the Russian men standing to give up their seat, not something that used to happen when I travelled in Melbourne on the train.

The next station was beautifully decorated also – then back on another train for 2 stations and then got off.  This was a beautiful station also with life size bronze figures in marble arches.  There were two that are said to be lucky if you rub the dog’s nose.  They have been rubbed so much they are bright and shiny.  High ceilings and everything was sparkling clean.   The trains travel at 77 km per hour.  Believe me it seems really fast when you are standing hoping you’ll get off at the correct station and not get left in the underground of Moscow.

When we resurfaced – up another escalator just as long as the first – the rain had stopped and the sun was trying to shine.  From here we walked into the centre of the city.  Things are quieter now as Mr. Putin left (by his helicopter) at 10am.  Now for lunch – a restaurant (spelt pectopah in Russian) ‘Godunov’.  Firstly a Greek salad - this seems a really popular dish with the Russians, followed by Hungarian Goulash served in a bun/roll with rice.  Cheese cake completed the meal.     We took the option of coming back to the boat for the afternoon for a bit of a rest as we are off to the Circus tonight.