Paris & Moscow

Emily and I had a trip of a lifetime. We left Friday right after work, flew to Paris, spent 5 nights there, then flew to Moscow Thursday morning, spent 4 nights there, and came home Monday afternoon. It was absolutely incredible!!

As cliche as it sounds, I really did fall in love with Paris. I have never been in a city so spectacular. The history, old buildings, museums, food, etc. It exceeded every expectation I had. Here are some highlights:

* Sunset on top of the Arc d' Triumph
* Top of the Eiffel Tower (which is absolutely enormous)
* The Louvre (4 times) and saying hello to Mona, Venus de Milo, and Winged Victory
* Impressionist Paintings in the Orsay Museum
* Versailles
* Notre Dame (and hiking the Bell Tower)
* Sainte-Chappel (amazing stained glass)
* Opera Garnier Tour (The Phantom Music kept running through my head at the main staircase)
* Sacre-Coeur Cathedral and view of the city
* Cafe - eating desserts or croissants at a random Patisserie or Brasserie
* Sunset boat River Cruise
* Walking the Champs Elysees

Absolutely loved Paris. Moscow was absolutely nuts. It was nice being back - it felt just like Ukraine. It was good to be there with Em and to feel the culture and excitement. The Metro was unbelievable. Red Square was our absolute favorite, and we went there almost every day. Here are the highlights:

* Red Square at Sunset
* Kremlin tour (especially the State Diamond Fund in the Armory & seeing the Orlov diamond)
* St. Basil's Cathedral (including the old women re-painting over the 900 year old art Icons- see picture below)
* Tretyakov Gallery & Museum
* The Pushkin Museum - and all of the fake copies of the Venus De Milo statues and art work (gotta love the Russian Facade)
* Bolshoi Theater - and watching Swan Lake performed by the Bolshoi Ballet
* Eating Borshch, Pelmeni, and Vareniki
* Me leaving my cell phone at a restaurant and coming back 30 min later to find it was still there. Buying the woman cleaner who was honest enough to keep my phone safe chocolate at 11 PM at night
* Haggling with the locals for Russian Stack Dolls and Fur Hats
* Buying an Impressionistic Oil Painting of the Kremlin to add to our home art collection
* Visiting the Art Muzeon Statue Park - with all the old Soviet Statues of Lenin & Stalin
* Witness 2 different fights in the subway (one involving a police officer)
* A big bird capturing mid-flight another bird, taking it away, and eating it
* Drinking KVAS
* Emily sneaking illegal pictures in all of the cathedrals
* A bizarre stray dog waiting at the cross walk to cross the street with all the other humans once the light changed....
* Red Caviar at the main Gastronom
* Flame juggling at the park
* Stalin (the fish) dominating the fish tank at our hotel and driving fear into all of the other fish
* The Novidivichy Convent Cemetary (seeing Checkov, Gorbachov...)
* Lenin's Mausoleum & actually seeing his body - a little odd

We had a great trip. Enjoy the pictures below:


Lenin's Mausoleum. It was actually interesting to go in. It was dark, surrounded by tons of security guards, and in a glass area about 10 feet away from the railings. The security guards tried to hurry you through, and we weren't allowed to even take a camera or phone in. It showed Lenin's body, but you really could only see his head and hands - and he looked completely fake - probably made out of wax or something. But do not be deceived, the Russian Govt has come out and refuted this theory .... :)


Famous GUM mall in Red Square.


Ivan the Terrible Bell Tower - within the Kremlin.


Tsar's Bell - within the Kremlin. Largest bell in the world.


These paintings were actually hanging in a subway car. Pretty cool actually.... (but not ALL the subway cars were like this, only special ones).