First 3 Days in Moscow

With nearly 5 days spent on the train from Irkutsk to Moscow, I was glad to have finally reached our destination and would spend the next 3 days in Moscow, Russia. And let me tell you, after nearly 5 days on a train, you’re happy to get to any destination. Don’t get me wrong, the Trans-Siberian train is definitely an experience and one that I’d recommend to others but after already having taken it once before and this time, not having a ‘cabin’ this time around, the open seating carriage can get tiresome. So whether you plan to spend a 3 days in Moscow or a few in St. Petersburg, you’ll want at least 2-3 days just to get adjusted.

At the Red Square in Moscow

My friend and I arrived into Moscow at 5am. This is definitely not the ideal time to arrive anywhere, especially Moscow on a Sunday morning with bags in hand and still having to find the hostel you booked a week earlier. That was the biggest struggle… trying to navigate the streets of the largest city in Europe in the dead black of morning while the drunks are still out and about on the street partying from their Saturday night.

Russian humor… I needed it on this 5AM hostel trek through the city

Me being the more ‘sensible’ one, I opted for a taxi however my budget conscious traveling companion wouldn’t have it. So, we walked. And walked, and then walked some more. What should have been a 30 minute walk turned into 2 hours after having gotten lost. (One more to add to my stats list)…And guess who got to carry all the heavy bags!?! There was broken glass all over the streets, a couple of bloody folks that must have said the wrong thing at the bar swaying on the street corners and countless taxi drivers as well as two police officers that stopped their car asking us if we needed a ride. But still, my friend was determined to save the money and foot it… (Note to self… when a policeman stops and asks you if you need a ride, there’s probably a good reason)

And aside from all the drunks on the street, as you can imagine, there really aren’t a lot of people on the streets to ask for directions. What made it worse was the fact that none of the sober folks we did find had any idea of where this hostel was nor had ever heard of the street it was off of. It advertised a 24 hour check in but no one at the place was answering the phone. At this point, I was simply too tired to argue about it. On a side note, the sun doesn’t rise in Moscow this time of year until about 8AM so it was pitch black during the entire trek.

What a difference daylight makes in these parks in Moscow after walking them that night

When we finally arrived, I think I’d lost 10 pounds in water weight from lugging the bags around. That’s what happens when you have a roller backpack and everyone else wants you to help carry theirs… Such is life.

Breakfast that morning… I don’t even remember what I put on that tray. It was essentially breakfast, lunch and dinner rolled into one after having been awake nearly 24 hrs

After checking in (and grabbing a good map of where we were in Moscow), I realized I should have just searched for a hotel and taken a shuttle bus. We were too tired to sleep but still tried to in their main lobby. That was another bump in the road since we couldn’t officially check in to a room until about 10am that morning. Once the sun came up we headed out for breakfast and slept much of the rest of the day.

The next couple days we spent touring around the city. My friend hadn’t been to the Kremlin or Red Square since she was little so we did the tourist run and as always, the sights were impressive. We visited both including St. Basil’s Cathedral which I had done on my first trip but I was once again determined to visit Lenin’s tomb.

Stumbled across this guy in the park. Too random not to take a picture…

Some people may not have a desire to the see the corpse Russia’s celebrated leader from nearly a 100 years past but when in Moscow, it’s one of the main attractions. And with only a few mausoleums in the entire world, I wanted to make it to my second after already seeing Ho Chi Minh in Hanoi, Vietnam. Unfortunately, it was closed… again. Are there so many moving parts inside the tomb that need repairs and updating? I guess my one year absence from Moscow didn’t help my timing on this return trip.

Lenin’s Mausoleum in the Red Square

Instead we decided to just walk the streets and parks of Moscow and it was still a great time to spend for our first 3 days in Moscow. More to follow…