привет Россия! (Hello Russia!)

We arrived in Moscow in the evening and somehow managed to locate my brother Edward in the large Paveletsky Station (this is where his large handlebar mustache comes in particularly handy!). He helped us get over to our rented apartment, just across the river from the Kremlin and Red Square. The next day, Brian, Edward, and I ventured over there in the deceptively balmy weather (oh, if we had only known what was to come), and got to see Red Square all decked out for the holidays with a giant tree and skating rink (see pic). Even Lenin's Tomb had some small Christmas trees out front!

One of the buildings on the square was undergoing renovations, but no fear - a fabric facade was hung around the building so we would know what we were missing, haha. (see pic)







We walked through St. Basil's (aka "The Candy Building"), popped in GUM (the upscale shopping mall), and then made our way over to the Kremlin. The highlights definitely were seeing the Tsar Cannon (40 tons) and the Tsar Bell (216 tons), the largest cannon and bell in the world, respectively (see pics). Sadly, the bell cracked during a fire before it ever was rung.







After the Kremlin, we headed to Old Arabat St., a pedestrian shopping boulevard. Here we had sweet condensed milk blini for lunch (see pic) - these became one of our staple meals, as blini stands are everywhere and we could order just by pointing!






The next day we got up early and headed out in the snow flurries to Izmailovsky Weekend Market. Here I found a handpainted set of 'cat lady' nesting dolls (see pic) that I tried unsuccessfully to bargain for, so I enlisted my Russian-speaking brother to get me a deal. I'm not exactly sure what happened next, but it involved the babushka yelling, some laughter, and no price reduction for me. Sigh. Apparently she told Edward that the "discount" he was asking for was equivalent to the price of a cheeseburger - and "this is art!!!" As you can see, I bought the dolls anyway. :)





We grabbed more blini for lunch, and then made our way across town to the renowned Moscow Cat Theatre, a fast-paced show with clowns, dancers, and 120 'trained' cats performing tricks (see pics). Most of the cats are rescued strays, and (as was apparent in the show), cats cannot actually be trained - they will do what they want, when they want. But if one cat wasn't behaving, it was just removed and replaced with another cat who would perform for treats. I personally think that my own kitty Ginger could be a star, but sadly she's a bit pudgy for a lot of the apparatuses, haha.

That evening we headed over to my brother's apartment, where he made us a traditional Russian dinner of mushroom pelmeni (dumplings) and vegetarian Borscht (plus some homemade eggnog!) (see pic). It's no Italian pastries and pizza, but I could actually get used to this Russian food...