moscow, 2

we started off the day by heading back to krasnaya ploschad'
we had to leave yesterday because the square was closed down
i guess some bigshot had stopped by and we couldn't stay
we headed to st basil's cathedral
which we got to just after it had opened
man, that place is insane

it was the original cathedral built with the onion dome style
it was commissioned by ivan groznyj, and it was actually built by an italian architect
as one legend says,
ivan was so impressed with its beauty
he ordered the eyes carved out of the architect and his assistant,
so they could never build anything as beautiful again
that wasn't true, but it still makes for a good story
these cathedrals really put american churches to shame
i couldn't even imagine trying to worship in one

after that, we took a little stroll around the other side of the kremlin
got to see the statue of marshall zhukov in front of the istoricheskij muzej
he was the recepient of four 'hero of the soviet union medals'
he had the most of anyone, tying with brezhnev
[which really doesn't count; brezhnev gave himself three for his birthdays]
we even saw the changing of the guard in front of the memorial by the gate
it reminded me of the changing of the guard at arlington
just imagine it being done by russians, and that was pretty much it

after our trip to there, we took another metro ride to patriarch ponds
it's this really nice little park tucked away in downtown moscow
it originally belonged to the patriarch of the church
but it was eventually given to the city folk who lived around there
it's also where, in master i margarita, woland comes to berlioz and bezdomnyj

speaking of master i margarita,
on our travels, we went to the apartment of mikhail bulgakov
for those who don't know,
bulgakov was a well-known russian playwright in the early half of the 20th century
he also penned a novel in the late 30s entitled 'the master and margarita'
it's about the devil making an appearance in 1930s moscow
i definitely recommend it, it's an interesting read
but anyway, we toured his apartment [which housed eight other families]
and toured around the neighborhood

that concludes our incredible tour of the two largest russian cities
i'm really impressed with moscow, i have to say
i was expecting it to be much grittier and more soviet
but, they were both beautiful cities with so much to see
i'm definitely going to have to come back here

we leave for volgograd tomorrow afternoon
and a 22-hour train ride later, that's where we'll be
i'll meet my family, get fed, hopefully sleep some
then begin my second round of classes this year
at least my russian is improving somewhat
should make all that easier