Day 7 : Moscow - Red Square & Kremlin

We reached Moscow around 6am in the morning. Had a good sleep in the train! :) A man holding a cardboard (with our rented apartment name written on it) was waiting outside our train coach to transport us from the railway station our rented apartment.

Our rented apartment is located Kamergesky Pereulok area, near the Bolshoi Theater and Ritz Carlton Hotel :) It is also a walking distance from the Red Square and Kremlin - quite convenient, alhamdulillah. A bit expensive though... about USD160 per night. But it has free wifi access... I like!! hehe :)

Had to wait in the cold for the landlord to come with the apartment key.

Moscow as 5C on the first day we arrived :)

Our rented apartment got free wifi - woohoo!! :) Apa lagu - terus menggodek HP ku to surf facebook :)

The bedroom

Kitchen attached to the living hall. The sofa that we were sitting is actually a sofabed.

After breakfast, we went out to to explore the famous Red Square and Kremlin. Gosh, it's like a dream come true! I've read so much about this place that I felt so excited to finally be there! It is as beautiful as I imagined :) The grand buildings, the colourful lollipop-like domes of St Basil's Cathedral, the huge wall of Kremlin! God... there were lots to see!!!!

On the way to Red Square, I saw this advert - sebagai pengguna setia Clinique, sudah tentu saya berasa bangga dan berhajat posing disebelah iklan ini... hahaha!

Red Square - we were finally there!!

Excited to be here! The kids might not understand that... but well, I hope they would learn to appreciate whatever they see di bumi Allah ini.

Exploring Red Square in the cold windy day... ohh.. tangan must put in pockets... sejuukkkk!!


Kazan Cathedral, a faithful 1990s reconstruction of the original cathedral.

History of Moscow Museum on the right and Kremlin wall on the left.

I finally found the 'lollipop building'!!! St Basil's Cathedral on my left and Kremlin Wall and Lenin Mausoleum on Izzaty's left.

The 'lollipop' building as I liked to describe it is actually known as St Basil's Cathedral. Commissioned by Ivan the Terrible to celebrate the Mongol stronghold of Kazan in 1552, St Basil's Cathedral was completed in 1561. It is reputed to have been designed by the architect Postnik Yakovlev. According to the legend, Ivan was so amazed at the beauty of his work that he had him blinded so that he would never be able to design anything as exquisite again. Hmm... no wonder was was called Ivan 'THE TERRIBLE'! :P

Kanak2 riang di Red Square - err.. baju biru tu masih kanak2 kah?? :P


I finally got the chance to take pics in front of this lollipop building!! ;D
Another dream come true... syukur alhamdulillah :)


One family pic - taken by a Philippine couple whom we met at the square :)

The lollipop domes has an interesting history apparently. Following a fire in 1583, the original helmet-shaped cupolas were replaced by ribbed onion domes. It is only since 1670 that the domes have been painted many colours like a lollipop. Once, St Basil's was white with golden domes.

Monument to Minin and Prince Pozharskiy in front of the Cathedral was built to remember these 2 heroes who raised a volunteer force to fight the invading Poles and let their army to victory when they drove the Poles out of the Kremlin!

Lenin Mausoleum - against Lenin's wishes, it was decided to preserve the former Soviet leader's body for posterity. The body as embalmed and placed in a temporary wooden mausoleum in the Red Square area. We did go and see his body.... euuu... scary!! Muka dua putih pucat je nampak dalam wooden box tu. Izzat called Lenin 'The Waxed Man' :D

The most famous and largest department store in Moscow - GUM! Exclusive shops and boutiques only in here like Christian Dior, LV, Benetton, Estee Lauder and other big names. Perghh.... cuci mata je lah mampu... :P

Beautiful buildings and scenery in Red Square.

After tired of exploring Red Square, we finally decided to go inside Kremlin..

The Moscow Kremlin is a unique monument of history and culture with its splendid creations of architecture and art. It has always been the focal point of the growth of the Russian state, the stage of many dramatic and glorious events. It is home to the Russian president and the seat of his administration. Macam parlimen Malaysia la gitu... tapi lagi glam! :D So, only part of the Kremlin is accessible to the public. And in most of the buildings, photographing was not allowed :P So tak banyak la gambar boleh share...

Nak masuk Kremlin ni of course kena bayar! Can't exactly remember how much.. tapi punya la byk entrance fee nya!! Nak masuk museum, entry fee lain... nak masuk the churches, entry fee lain... quite an amount jugak lah... and times 4 some more since there where 4 of us... huhu!

Cathedral of the Assumption - among the buildings in the Kremlin.

The Tsar Bell, the largest n the world with the 11-tonne section that broke off.

Beautiful scenery in Kremlin!

There were lots of interesting building and things in Kremlin! A lot to see to! Especially in the State Armoury!

The State Armoury building

The queue to enter State Armoury. I must say that Russians are not so good in queueing. Dengan selambanya mereka suka memotong queue :P Dari queue kat Hermitage, St Petersburg, sampailah lah kat Moscow ni.... sama je :P

The Armoury is Russia's oldest museum containing collection of the state armoury that represents the wealth accumulated by the Russian tsars and tsarinas over many centuries. So many interesting to see here! Among others that interest me most are the original Faberge Eggs, magnificent collections of Carriages and Sledges, Catherine the Great's Coronation Dress (I told you before how fascinated I was with this tsarina! hehe!), the historical thrones, The Orlov Diamond (wow! this one is an amazingly huge diamond! phew!), and lots more that I can't recall right now. I would say this is the MOST interesting museum I've ever been!! :) Unfortunately, no photographs allowed in the museum. So no pictures that I can share here to prove how interesting the museum was to me :(

By the time we left the museum, it was getting dark. So bergegas la kami pulang untuk mengejar waktu solat... huhu!

Red Square and Kremlin is as great as I imagined! :) Alhamdulillah. Syukur kepada Allah s.w.t kerana memberi peluang bagi kami sekeluarga menjejakkan kaki di bumi Moscow yang indah ini.