Wednesday, July 25, 2012

We are now safely in our hotel room in Novosibirsk.  The travel here was long but uneventful..  We left SLC at 8:30 a.m. on Monday.  It was a little emotional but we were so busy with so much on our minds we didn’t think much about that.  It was about 4.5 hours to New York where we had 1 hour to change planes.  Then it was about 9 hours to Moscow.

We really did not know what to expect in Moscow.  Surprisingly the airport is one of the biggest and most beautiful we have seen.  

Moscow Airport Terminal

       We made it through all the check points, got our bags transferred to the flight to Novosibirsk and then had 10-11 hours to spare before our next flight.  Fortunately Elder and Sister Naegle met us and they took us into town to the U.S. Embassy to get our “second passport”.  We need a second passport so that we can use one to apply for our next visa in three months while in Finland.  Since they have to take the passport to apply for the visa, and we can’t be without one at any time, we must therefore have a second passport.  That took about 2 hours.  They then took us on the Metro to the famous “Red Square” (after a stop at a Burger King for a hamburger).  The Mall was gorgeous).  The Kremlin is along one side, St. Basil’s church on the other, another church of some kind on the other and a beautiful long official looking building on the other side that is really an expensive, exclusive Mall.  (Lenin and Stalin would turn over in their graves.)  Lenin’s tomb is also on Red Square.  

The Metro (Subway) in Moscow is beautiful and immaculately maintained.

An interesting fountain near Red Square

Red Square.  When I was a boy I saw news reels of the Russian May Day celebration.  Lots of tanks and soldiers marching for the Communist officials.  I never thought I would actually visit where this all took place.  The large official looking building is actually a Mall.  On the inside it is very gorgeous, exclusive and expensive.  Lenin and Stalin would turn over in their graves.

The Kremlin at Red Square

St. Basil's Cathedral at Red Square

Karen at a little outdoor market in Moscow.