You can actually see the massive golden domes of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour when you are standing outside the Kremlin's main entrance (Trinity Gate). I remember stepping out of the Kropotkinstakaya metro station right next to this cathedral, looking up at it and saying 'wow' to myself. After all, it is the tallest Orthodox Christian church in the world. But if you think the outside is awe-inspiring, wait until you get inside. Of all the cathedrals I visited in Moscow, I think this one has the most magnificent interior. Unfortunately, photos are not allowed inside. My mom bought a book of the catehdral in the church shop inside so we could look at the photos and be reminded just how spectacular it is. Entrance is free.
Cathedral of Christ the Saviour
Another place you must visit when in Moscow is the Tretyakov Gallery. This museum is ranked #4 among Moscow attractions in tripadvisor and my book recommended a visit here. To be quite honest, I included a stop here in our itinerary because I kept reading about it but I was initially expecting to spend just an hour or two here. As it turns out, the gallery is huge and it houses a very extensive collection of very impressive and brilliant artwork. We ended up spending more than three hours here and even then we felt we could have spent more time just going through the 62 rooms in the museum. They also have a great collection of religious artifacts. Entrance is 450 rubles but it is worth every penny.
Boyarynya Morozova by Vasily Surikov
The Gates of the Palace of Timur (Tamerlane's Mausoleum) by Vasily Vereshchagin
The Church of St. John the Warrior is a short walk away from the Oktyabrskaya metro, and my book suggested a quick visit here to see the mix of Moscow and European baroque styles. It doesn't look that interesting from the outside but once again, the interior with its wooden iconostasis was worth at least a quick look.
Church of St. John the Warrior
There is another, smaller church right outside the Oktyabrskaya metro so we decided to go in for a quick look since we were already there.
I knew about Gorky Park because of the film of the same name that came out back in the 80s. When we tried looking for what apparently is the now-defunct Ice Sculpture Gallery, it was already 6pm and not a lot of sights were still open. My book indicated that Gorky Park was open to the public until 10 PM so we went there instead.
Gorky Park
It used to be an amusement park that was a bit kitschy but most of the rides and games have been cleared out save for a few. They are also building a few places to eat here, although there was at least one cafe that was already in operation and my mom and I had some coffee and pastries here to relax a bit.
The Cosmonautics Memorial Museum is one of my favorite attractions in Moscow. It is quite memorable because most of the places we saw were religious or historical in nature and this museum was the only "futuristic" place we saw. Of course, my inner kid came out and seeing all the "space stuff" made me very excited.
Cosmonautics Memorial Museum
Entrance is 200 rubles but if you want to take photos inside, you need to pay an additional 200 rubles per camera. My advice: pay the extra 200 rubles. We easily spent about 3 hours inside looking at and taking photos of original cosmonaut memorabilia and replicas of the satellites, shuttles, and rockets. It was also interesting getting a glimpse into the lives of Russian cosmonauts.
My mom actually wanted us to visit "Star City" which is where Russian cosmonauts go to train and where visitors actually have an opportunity to have their picture taken inside an actual space suit. However, since this is an actual training facility, you need to work on getting government approval (usually through a travel agent) at least two weeks prior to your visit. Since we couldn't go to Star City, I thought the Cosmonautics Memorial Museum definitely made up for it.
Our final day in Moscow was spent at the Vernissage Market at the Kremlin in Izmailovo. Here you will find a whole horde of Russian souvenirs, including an endless array of Matryoshka dolls. The items here are really cheap and both my mom and I made a few purchases (my mom also got a set of Matryoshka dolls that are now on display at home). We were told that while the market is open every day, the best time to visit is during the weekend when a whole lot more stores are open. There's a part of the market that you can visit for free but most of the shops are located in the gated section that has a 10 or 20 ruble entrance fee.
Vernissage Market
Next to the market is the wildly colorful Kremlin in Izmailovo. There are several beautiful buildings in the area and we took a couple of photos but as we stepped out, we realized that you need to pay to take pictures. Oops! There is a Vodka History Museum here that we didn't visit. My book also indicated that there is a Russian Costume and Culture Museum and a small Toy Museum but no one there could speak in English so we gave up trying to figure out where these two were (the website also doesn't mention these sights so maybe they are no longer present).
Kremlin in Izmailovo
We probably didn't buy as many souvenirs in Vernissage Market because the hotel where we stayed was about a 3-minute walk from Arbat Street where you can also several souvenir shops that stay open until 9 or even 10 PM. As such, my mom was already able to buy a lot of souvenirs over the week that we were there. You can also find several dining options along Arbat Street, and while we did eat at McDonald's and Dunkin Donuts, we also tried some Russian local restaurants and cafes such as Moo Moo and Shokoladnitsa.
Arbat Street
From the end of Arbat Street close to the Smolenskaya Metro station, you also get a good view of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, one of Moscow's Seven Sisters which are seven buildings in the city designed in the Stalinist style. Actually, we had an even better view of this beautiful building from our hotel room.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, one of Moscow's Seven Sisters
Next post: the amazing Moscow Metro.
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