Pleasant memories

Although distorted, this is a very pleasant memory for me. On my first trip to Russia, nearly 3 years ago we travelled to Moscow. I had no idea where we were staying - the church had made all the arrangements. I knew I was in good hands. I knew the hotel was The Russiya but didn't know its location. It was a very cold and snowy day. We were exhausted but exhilirated as we arrived at the hotel around 2PM. I had always wanted to see St. Basil's. It was one of my longtime dreams. As we circled the hotel, I looked out of my window in the van and there was the catherdal!! It was dismal outside and there were raindrops on the window but I wanted to capture the picture and remember the thrill of seeing St. Basil's for the first time. I couldn't believe it was right in front of me as was The Kremlin.
Here is St. Basil's the next day, in the sunshine. There was scaffolding all over it and it partially obscured the building. This past November, I saw it without the scaffolding. It's beautiful. The renovations are now complete. It is not a practicing cathedral anymore, however it is open to the public as a museum.
The Kremlin......and that's me, holding the purse. Freezing to death. We flew into the coldest spring in 132 years. We were told the April weather was comparable to that of Northern Virginia in April, so we had no cold weather gear with us. That day it was 15 degrees with a strong 25 mile an hour wind blowing. To say the least, we didn't stay outside long. We found a little shop and bought head scarf (babushkas). The gal in the right hand corner is our team leader. :o)
This is the Bolshoi. There were no performances going on so we weren't allowed inside. Trust me, it was a thrill to stand outside and know what went on inside.

Same walk-about. All of that walking makes one hungry. Here are my team members (I'm taking the picture) at a fast food restaurant (lovingly referred to as "The Chicken Place") where we ate fried chicken and french fries. We were astounded to find out that there was a charge for the little packets of ketchup. Our chaperone said they cost about $.25. We were aghast and used it a bit more stringently.

This first trip to Russia was a quantum leap for me. It was the first time I was outside the US and to go to Russia was a big deal for me. I was very grateful for the opportunity to go and when I came home I found I had a new love and respect for my country.