Things to do in Moscow in the heat?

[vivienr]

Landing at the airport was rather scary as the ground could not be seen until we were about 10 metres above it. The airport was very hot and smoky inside but I made a fairly quick exit by a coach ride to the Metro station nearest to my hotel (for the princely sum of less than £2).

The hotel was in a fairly lively commercial district and the view from the window gave me much entertainment. The shopping centre opposite contained the French supermarket chain Auchan which was rather surreal.

On Sunday there were a lot of tourists hanging around in the centre as all the attractions had been closed and there was not anywhere else for them to go. The fountains were a very popular way of keeping cool but the water here was a rather bright green.

The water trucks were spraying the roads and bridges to stop the tarmac melting. My feet never recovered form the hot surfaces and I hobbled round on blisters for the rest of the week.

[vivienr]

The next day, after visiting the great Tretyakov art gallery, I went to the north of the city hoping to visit the Cosmonautics museum which is in the base of the huge rocket scupture. However it had closed early so instead I walked round what used to be the soviet exhibition centre full of fancy pavillions now used as a funfair/shopping centre. There was a display of small gardens - a bit like the bedding displays at Tatton show.

Again, the fountains were very popular. There was an exhibit of sand sculptures - probably the only people to be happy tht there was no rain.

Unfortunately I did not make it as far as the botanic gardens, which were not to far from here. It was just too hot and tiring

[vivienr]

More to follow, but I have lots of visitors to look after this week so it may take a few days

[vivienr]

The next batch.
By Wednesday everything was open again but the sunshine made the streets even hotter.

Red Square was an amazing place and I kept going back there just to have another look.

The first picture is the view looking north west followed by a clockwise tour of the square.

The Resurrection Gate and Kazan Cathedral are two of the buildings which were demolished in the 30's and rebuilt as replicas in the 90's.

GUM is now an arcade of expensive designer shops - rather like a larger version of the Victoria Arcade in Leeds

The building under renovation beside St. Basil's was covered in a screen painted to look like a building - something I saw a lot of in Moscow which helped to make the place look very neat and tidy.

The State Historical Museum is a beautiful building - my favourite - I think because it looks as if it is covered in snow which gave a slight psychological cooling effect

[vivienr]

One thing about Moscow that made an impression on me was the huge number of trees and green spaces in the city. The only place you could be and not see trees was in the Metro

The Kremlin was an example of this and I was amazed to find it so spacious and with its own wooded garden on the side facing the river. The garden is immaculate and was being tended to by a group of gardeners. There was an orchard of old trees laden with small green apples. If anyone happens to know the variety of these apples please let me know (my husband is an apple fanatic).

[Ragged Robin]

You certainly did and saw plenty, Viv, and your photos of Moscow in the heat are really interesting.  The architecture is so impressive and I'm not surprised you were drawn back to Red Square and the State Historical Museum (topped with snow effect  ) - did you go in?  Everything looks very well kept and it's great there are so many free open spaces.  After your comments and Olga's photo of the effects from the fires and heat I thought it would be impossible to do anything but you certainly achieved a lot in spite of you blisters