Красная Москва площади и Кремля! (Moscow's Red Square and the Kremlin!)

Well, we finally made it to Moscow on Monday morning.  We passed through the Ural mountains on the train from Yekaterinburg, officially taking us out of Asia for the first time since December 28th.  We are now in the most populated city in continental Europe, officially at over eleven million people.  This is our last city of 46 we've been to in 22 weeks.  It is bittersweet in many ways.  We are both so ready to be home, but at the same time very much enjoying reflecting on what an amazing lifetime experience this trip has been.  This isn't the time for a travel seminar of course, so please enjoy the pictures.

Amazing gold domed cathedrals are all over Moscow.

That's St. Basil's cathedral in the background!

On the Moscow River on a perfect June day.

Memorial and museum for Russia's "Great Patriotic War," known more popularly as WWII to us Americans.

This subway escalator took about 4 minutes it was soooo long.

I think it says KFC in Russian.

Klaire

Inside Red Square.

A Padre in the Kremlin

One of several beautiful Kremlin cathedrals.

The Tsar's cannon weighs in at 40 tons.

This Tsar's bell weighs in at 200 tons! That's 400,000 lbs!

The not-so-secret, "secret" garden.

Moscow is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful cities I've ever seen.  Its so amazing, and honestly took me by surprise.  It is certainly the financial, and cultural center of Russia.  We would love to visit again in the winter sometime.  As its stands with the perfect weather we've had, I would recommend it as a destination for anybody willing to go through the arduous visa application process.  Claire and I are both so glad we did.  What a terrific way to end our honeymoon!

See you all back in the USA!

Jeff's Pun of the Week

Pasta Putin-esca!

Yekaterinberg

A 49 hour train ride from Irkutsk brought us to Yekaterinberg just 40km from the border between Asia and Europe.  Riding on the train has been so fun.  Russians on the train have been very nice and interested in who we are and what we are doing.  Most don't speak English and since we don't speak Russian, our conversations have been limited but can still last a couple hours.  Our guidebook also describes all of the little towns we pass through, so we get to learn some about Russian history.  The landscape has been surprisingly similar being mostly birch tree forests and small wooden houses.

Buying beer at one of the stops

Getting some air

Birch forests - and now you've seen Siberia!

Yekaterinberg (or Yakinberg as we called it before we figured out what the actual name was) is a mid to large size city known historically as the city where the Romanov family was murdered in 1918 during the Russian Revolution. There is not too much to see or do here, but we have enjoyed our time.  The city is pretty and we found a great Russian restaurant that is buffet style, so we can pick and choose. Tomorrow morning we head out to Moscow, where we will be staying with my second cousin for three nights, then homeward bound!

Romanov Memorial (Church of the Blood)

City Hall

Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin were here! (Just kidding)

Some of the beautifully painted buildings behind us