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Moscow was wet, and the babushkas at my hotel to the north of the city centre were hooked on watching 'Dynasty' on their little tv's at the end of the corridor. Moscow fashion seemed to be dominated by Dynasty at that point, and ladies had to have the latest in shinny tights - very shiny tights.
I stayed three days in the Hotel, and didn't see another guest in that time. The hot water only lasted till about 9:30, so if you wanted a shower - you got up early!
The most amazing experience in Moscow (apart from finding an Irish pub behind the Mryanstski Theatre), was walking around a corner, and seeing Red Square - just as you see it on TV, with the Kremlin, Lenin's tomb, the GUM department store, and St Basil's at the end - I felt like a foreign correspondent. A great feeling!
I caught the underground to the northern outskirts of the city to see the VDNKh (the All-Russian Exhibition Centre) - in the Soviet era it was a showcase for all that was good and great in Mother Russia. However, when I visited the only thing on display were a lot of imported tv's and microwaves.
Outside VDHKh is the monument to Soviet space flight - the 100 metre tall 'work' depicts a rocket heading skywards - it's very impressive!
The Moscow Underground system has to be seen to be believed, the first thing that you notice is that the lines are very deep - the escalators are so long that you can't see the bottom when you step on them. The stations themselves are vast - some even have chandeliers in them!
The time in Moscow slipped by and I got on the overnight train to Kiev in the Ukraine, but that's another web page
I revisited Moscow as part of my Japan->UK overland trip, almost a decade after my first visit, and it was surprising how little had changed - the only obvious thing was the cars. In 1996 there were very few Western makes, but in 2005, it was all Western brands!
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