Let us begin by saying brrrrrrrrrrrr . . . .
It takes me (Tammy) a few hours to come to life in the morning, which I will note is 10PM in the states. For anyone who knows me, that's one hour past my normal bedtime - perhaps that's why I walk into doors. After we got some caffeine and a good dose of cold air, we woke up enough to start the day.
We began by visiting the Tretyakov Gallery. This is widely regarded as one of the most impressive Russian Art collections in the world and it certainly seemed that way to us. It's an immense gallery that leads you through Russian history through its art. The gallery begins with an enormous collection of Russian Icons from as early as the 1100s. The second floor showcases hundreds of portraits (Pushkin, Ivan the Terrible, Dostoevsky, Catherine the Great, Peter the Great) before the collection weaves it's way through the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries.
It was interesting to view Russian life through these works of art. We are having a hard time coming up with words to describe what we saw . . perhaps that's why it was painted to begin with. Highly recommend for your bucket list.
After feeling utterly overwhelmed after spending hours in the Tretyakov gallery we grabbed a bite to eat at a little cafe we discovered. Most of the menu was not available in English so we took a chance with something they told us would come out quickly. It wasn't the best food we've ever eaten, but no where near the worst. We felt reassured to see the locals eating the same thing - still feeling okay so that's a bonus.
We then walked over to the fallen statues park which is exactly what it sounds like (we're learning that things here are quite literal). By the time we got to the park we were freezing and thinking that we might skip it, but were so distracted by all the amazing statues everywhere that we forgot how cold we were. There must have been close to, if not more than, 1,000 statues - many of which were from the Soviet Era. Definitely worth seeing. Here are a few of our favorites:
 |
| Kremlin wall bordering the frozen Moscow River |
It takes me (Tammy) a few hours to come to life in the morning, which I will note is 10PM in the states. For anyone who knows me, that's one hour past my normal bedtime - perhaps that's why I walk into doors. After we got some caffeine and a good dose of cold air, we woke up enough to start the day.
We began by visiting the Tretyakov Gallery. This is widely regarded as one of the most impressive Russian Art collections in the world and it certainly seemed that way to us. It's an immense gallery that leads you through Russian history through its art. The gallery begins with an enormous collection of Russian Icons from as early as the 1100s. The second floor showcases hundreds of portraits (Pushkin, Ivan the Terrible, Dostoevsky, Catherine the Great, Peter the Great) before the collection weaves it's way through the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries.
It was interesting to view Russian life through these works of art. We are having a hard time coming up with words to describe what we saw . . perhaps that's why it was painted to begin with. Highly recommend for your bucket list.
 |
| Tretyakov Gallery |
After feeling utterly overwhelmed after spending hours in the Tretyakov gallery we grabbed a bite to eat at a little cafe we discovered. Most of the menu was not available in English so we took a chance with something they told us would come out quickly. It wasn't the best food we've ever eaten, but no where near the worst. We felt reassured to see the locals eating the same thing - still feeling okay so that's a bonus.
We then walked over to the fallen statues park which is exactly what it sounds like (we're learning that things here are quite literal). By the time we got to the park we were freezing and thinking that we might skip it, but were so distracted by all the amazing statues everywhere that we forgot how cold we were. There must have been close to, if not more than, 1,000 statues - many of which were from the Soviet Era. Definitely worth seeing. Here are a few of our favorites:
This park is next to the New Tretyakov Gallery which showcases Russian Art from the 1900s on. When we walked in the door we had very confusing conversation (that word is generous) with the guard. He told us that we were not allowed to come in with the giant bag I was holding with what we purchased at the original Tretyakov Gallery. Unfortunately, there was nowhere to leave our bag so we had to leave (after dragging that stupid bag around for miles I was not about to give it up).
We left the gallery and began the long walk back to the hotel. We expected the walk to be cold (which it was) but we had no idea we would get such a magnificent view of the city on the way. While walking across the Moscow River this is what we saw:
After 15 minutes of resting and warming up back at the hotel, Sarah suggested we go to ANOTHER museum. I was still feeling overwhelmed by everything we had just seen, but we are only here for two more days. We walked back to Red Square where we visited the State Historical Museum. This chronological museum dating back to the paleolithic period showcases the development of Russian culture. We actually saw the skeletal remains of a young boy and girl from 27,000 years ago. We were both impressed and disgusted at the same time.
While Sarah was marveling at the jewelry and deciding which piece she would like to wear, I was looking for somewhere to sit. It's possible that we were experiencing a small amount of museum overload. I've (Tammy) decided that the Russians don't like to sit, because there are NO seats anywhere, not even in the Cathedrals.
All joking aside, it was a cool museum.
We decided to have an easy evening as we spent the day bouncing back and forth between our legs feeling sore and not feeling our legs at all. We went back to GUM (if you're an avid reader you now know what that is) to grab a couple salads for dinner. On the way out Mom thought it would be a great idea to stop for ice cream - I thought she was nuts. I'm not about to turn down ice cream though so I joined her and we sat and ate on a bench in the mail. I was completely shocked to see about half of the people walking through the mall stop for ice cream! I wonder if eating something cold before you go out in the cold helps prepare your body.
When we got back to the room with our salads we realized we didn't have any utensils. Thankfully, I having been in college (somewhat) recently came up with some creative uses for the corkscrew and the drink stirrers in our minibar. Dinner was great but we're going to have to leave the maid a tip in the morning.
No comments:
Post a Comment