The Iverskiye Gates ... leading into the Red Square. Thanks to Jen and her husband, I now know that Stalin blew these gates up so he could roll his tanks in to have his military parades on the Red Square.
In this picture, you can see the Iverskiye Gates to the right of the large building ... I'm not sure of the name of this building, but it sits at one end of the Red Square ... thanks to Jen and her husband, I now know that this building is the State Historical Museum ...
The infamous St. Basil's Cathedral ... it sits at the other end of the Red Square ...
The Kremlin Wall ... a defense wall that completely surrounds the Kremlin (the yellow and white building) ... at its highest point, it is 19 meters tall ... at its thickest point, it is 6.5 meters wide ... the wall runs all along the side of the Red Square ... and then it keeps going around the entire Kremlin ...
A church in the Red Square area ... thanks to Jen and her husband, I now know that this church is called the Kazan Cathedral ... it was also blown up by Stalin ...
Backside of the Kremlin and the Kremlin Wall ... taken from outside of the Red Square. I'm not sure the significance of the stone and the white pillars, but it appears they have some significance. Ahh, thanks to Jen and her husband, I now know that these stones are all that is left of the original Kremlin Wall ... that makes sense to me now! :)
The infamous St. Basil's Cathedral ... it sits at the other end of the Red Square ...
The Kremlin Wall ... a defense wall that completely surrounds the Kremlin (the yellow and white building) ... at its highest point, it is 19 meters tall ... at its thickest point, it is 6.5 meters wide ... the wall runs all along the side of the Red Square ... and then it keeps going around the entire Kremlin ...
A church in the Red Square area ... thanks to Jen and her husband, I now know that this church is called the Kazan Cathedral ... it was also blown up by Stalin ...
Backside of the Kremlin and the Kremlin Wall ... taken from outside of the Red Square. I'm not sure the significance of the stone and the white pillars, but it appears they have some significance. Ahh, thanks to Jen and her husband, I now know that these stones are all that is left of the original Kremlin Wall ... that makes sense to me now! :)
This was taken just to the left of the picture you see above ... I believe the eternal flame commemorates the fallen heroes of WWII ... and I think Stalin's body was relocated and buried somewhere in this area years after he died in an effort to remove him from his original, honorable place of burial ...
"Nika ... say cheese!"
The main area of the Red Square had construction because they are getting ready for the holiday season. It looked like they were building an ice skating rink and some other fun stuff ... I wish it was all done now!
Getting in the holiday spirit ... I love it! This is the outside of a very upscale shopping center that runs along the Red Square, opposite of the Kremlin. There are a lot of upscale stores that would be in Beverly Hills ... I drooled on the window fronts. LOL.
The interior of the shopping center ... there was a random ballroom in the middle of the shopping center, on the top floor. There were people gathered looking in the windows, so I (of course) wanted to see what was going on. There was a full blown ball going on, with full on ball gowns and everything ... it looked awesome!
So, I have a funny, random story. We were up on the 4th floor of the shopping center trying to find a way down with the stroller. All of the escalators went up ... none went down. Seriously. So we finally found an elevator ... there is a sign that says "Personal Only" and I ask Kyle if he thinks they mean "Personnel Only". He shrugs his shoulders, so we get in and push the button for the first floor.
The elevator doors open on the 1st floor and we see this barrier blocking us in ... ahh! So we push the button for the second floor ...
... and the doors open on the second floor and we see this barrier blocking us in ... seriously. Kyle is starting to think we may end up sleeping in this elevator. We push the button for the third floor ...
... and the doors open to this barrier blocking us in. Okay, what in the heck kind of elevator is this!? LOL. Kyle was not amused ... meanwhile I'm taking pictures. Hahahaha! We tried the fourth floor and finally got out. Fun stuff!
8 comments:
Interesting elevator . . .
Great pictures! Enjoy your time as tourists this weekend!
'Nika' is all bundled up! How cold is it?
Okay...I would have FREAKED out if i got "semitrapped" in a elevator....freaks me out a little just thinking about it!
I LOVE LOVE LOVE reading your journey! I came home today from work and couldn't wait to check it out...but I do have a question.
How are you "renaming" her. As in...what approach are you taking to teach her her new name,etc. I am just really curious how that works.
Just an interesting fact, the Iverskiye Gates were blown up by Stalin in order for him to roll in tanks that otherwise wouldn't fit for his military parades on Red Square. He also blew up the cathedral in your pics, the Kazan Cathedral. The red building is the State Historical Museum. Mark advises against a tour unless you have all day. The Kremlin stones are all that's left of the original wall. To save you a boring history lesson, if you Wiki the names you can find lots of fun facts, (well I think they're fun at least). I'm soooo excited for you guys. While you're there, see if you can eat at a good Georgian Restaurant (ask your translator), but save lots of time if you go. We had lots of fun at Izmailovskii Park which has a great art/souvenier/flea market on the dark blue subway line, (follow the crowd). Looking forward to more pics.
---Jen
Great pictures! I'm so glad you are getting time to explore.
Joy,RR
Jen ... thank you so much! I knew you would know! Haha. I did wiki some of the stuff since I was being my own tour guide, but I didn't find this other stuff you told me. I also have a picture of the eternal flame, which I think I now know is where Stalin is buried? Or wait, now I found something that says the flame is commemorating the fallen heroes of WWII. Hmm, I have no idea. I also see pictures of a changing of the guard ... do they still have that, because there were no guards there last night.
OK I've been a total lurker and just love your story (We had signed on with IAG but switched to Georgia back in 2002 and they didn't work there) ... ANYWAY... I GOT STUCK IN THAT SAME ELEVATOR!!!!!!!!!! I FIGURED IT WAS JUST UNDER CONSTRUCTION!! Hello... that was in March of '03 in that same mega shopping mall... holy cow. But seriously I spent so much time, BY myself, panicking because I couldn't get out and finally had to go back where I started. We almost missed our appointment with INS because it took so long for me to get back to our group...LOL. This brought back SUCH memories for me! :-) THANKS!!!
Christine ... that is hysterical! There was someone who got in after we finally got out and he pushed -1, so maybe there is something there. LOL. Too funny that this same thing happened to you five years ago!
I have NEVER seen such beautiful buildings in my life. I would love to see those for myself. What a beautiful place. (except for the elevators, of course)...i would have totally flipped out!
Rachel
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