Red Square and the Metro

Olga and I went in to the city today.
We went on the Metro. The Moscow Metro has an enviable reputation, and rightly so.
The stations are architecturally magnificent and have high vaulted ceilings that take away any claustrophobic effect. The trains arrive every two minutes. Today I saw a young man give his seat up to a blind (white stick) passenger and a young girl kindly offered her seat to me. Manners and respect are evident; even if the young lady implied that I was a frail old git! I declined her offer!

You often see passengers with their heads buried in a book; not just on the trains but on the escalators as well. Some escalators are very long. The handrails move slightly faster than the stairs so you find your hand gradually creeping away from you and your arm round the waist of the person in front (she didn't seem to mind!). Olga remembers this from when she was young. No progress on that little problem then.

The Kremlin is impressive. It is huge and the walls are very high. You see tantalising glimpses of towers and spires within. There are still illuminated red stars on the spire pinnacles. There is the 'Tomb of the unknown soldier' just outside the Kremlin walls. It has an 'eternal' flame and always there are two guards, standing stock still, on either side of the tomb. The guards today were young women. They were in perspex sentry boxes to protect them from the excessive cold.

Red Square has an ice rink built in the centre and the department store opposite the Kremlin, Gum, is outlined in lights. It tried to outshine the Kremlin but it is a frivolous nonentity compared to the ancient, massive presence of this powerful political symbol. St Basil's Cathedral also had an understated magnificence in its floodlights at the far end of the square.

A service was in progress in the little church in a corner of the square. The bell ringer stands amongst the bells in the bell tower and rings out the peals from there. The Russian Quasimodo.

We did not stay long. It was too cold.

Do svedanya,

Graham