Oh. My poor aching legs. We must have walked miles on these poor things today.
Our morning started out once again at 4:30. We're such early risers around here.
Our little family of five went back to bed about 5:30 and didn't wake again until 8:30. By that time, Dad and Mom had taken an hour long walk and had returned to start breakfast. Too much energy.
Breakfast was started at 10:19, and we didn't finish til nearly 11:00. The children were royal crabs so they got marched off to bed. However, naps never happened. About 20 minutes after we lay them down, we heard a siren on a toy blaring. JN was up and playing.
The decision was made. The children weren't showing signs of being overly excited about naps, and the adults hated sitting in the apartment when there is a city to explore.
The children were dragged out of bed and bundled up snugly for todays adventure. Both Addie and Will were far from excited about heading out. Whining, crying, and pouting, they trudged out the door, grumbling about how sleepy they were. Bummer for them!!
Off we went toward Red Square. It's about a mile long walk from our apartment. We decided today would be a fine day to tour the Kremlin.
The first spot we tried to get in was closed. Thankfully we found out that that spot wasn't even for the Kremlin. It was for Lenin's Mosoleum. Not interested in seeing Lenin's body, thank you.
We finally found a lady who was able to tell us the general direction we needed to head to find the ticket office for the Kremlin. Off we went.
Got a little side-tracked at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier as they were doing the 'Change of the Guards' thing. Fun to watch, but seems like such an odd thing to do. It's really a big deal.
Somewhere in there Addie and Will freaked out cause the guards on horse back started coming toward us. Poor Will. He tries so hard to be so tough, but a couple of horses can undo him in a split second.
We finally found the ticketing office and paid our 1050 rubles per adult to get inside. Was it ever worth it. It's just not every day that you get to step foot inside the Kremlin. That's just something you can read about in history books.
Amazingly enough, they allowed us to take cameras inside. Of course, we weren't supposed to take pictures when we entered cathedrals or the armoury, but folks (including Mom) were clicking right and left. The watch guards didn't seem too alarmed with all the camera action happening.
The cathedrals weren't really all that neat on the inside. The first one we entered, The Cathedral of the Archangel, appeared to be a cathedral full of caskets. I think it'd be called a shrine. Not really my cup of tea, but the chandeliers were neat!
The other cathedral we were able to enter, the Cathedral of the Annunciation, was just an old church. The paintings were neat, I suppose, but once again, it really wasn't my cup of tea. It was good to see simply cause it's history, but nothing that I have to go back to see anytime soon.
The Ivan the Great Bell Tower was pretty neat. And the Tsar Bell sitting right beside it was cool too.
And the Tsar Cannon? It was quite the cannon. I really didn't have a clue that cannons were so...large.
The only other building that we were able to enter was the State Armoury. According to my handy dandy little book here, the building was built from 1844-1851. We entered the building and immediately had to remove our coats and hang them in the cloak closet. The ladies behind the counter actually took our coats from us and gave us the numbers that our coats were hanging on so we could claim them later. We then received little hand held devices that told about each exhibit.
Believe it or not, I forgot to take a picture of the outside of the Armoury.
My little device was soon passed on to Addie as it wasn't that terribly interesting to me. At least not in the first room. About the third room the museum became interesting. Metal armory. You know. The kind that they used to wear way back when. Old guns. Clubs. Swords. Helmets. It was quite impressive. This is when Mom started snapping pictures.
The last couple rooms were interesting as well. Dresses that were worn by Catherine II. Robes worn by royalty.
The very last room was full of chariots that were used by Catherine the Great, Empress Elizabeth someone, and several other important folks from the olden days.
That was the end of our time in the Kremlin. It was well worth our 4200 rubles.
The walk back to our apartment was a slow one. Poor Addie and Will were just about sleeping on their feet. They really didn't complain, but when we got back here Addie exclaimed, "We should have come back here sooner. That was just ridiculous". I think they were glad to be home.
Supper was an hour later and bedtime was an hour after that. JN went to bed about 6:45 and the other two were snuggled in and sleeping soundly at 8:00. Poor Addie sacked out during devotions.
So. That was our day. The whole idea that we are currently in Moscow still hasn't sunk in with me yet. There's just something about looking through a book and saying 'oh, I took a picture of that today' that is a little odd.
In just four short days, I won't have to keep trying to make it seem real. It won't be real then. We should be on our way home.
Just four days. Four short days.
We can hardly wait, but we're trying to make the most of having to hang out in Moscow for six days.....
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