Red Square
24 April 2016, Moscow.
Red Square is special. I was telling Thing 1 & Thing 2 yesterday how amazing it is that we all are standing at Red Square, and they perhaps wouldn’t understand how fortunate they/we are to be here, and how times have changed. This just wouldn’t have been possible 25 years ago, unless you were Mathias Rust who flew from Germany and landed his single-engine Cessna right next to Red Square and right next to Kremlin in 1987 during the Cold War days, during the Soviet days. There’s no Iron Curtain now. I saw Americans, I saw Europeans, and I saw Asians at the Red Square.
Sitting outside at the Bosco Cafe at GUM and wrapped in a sweater, a red quilted thermal vest, a woolen cap, a scarf and wishing I had bought woolen gloves in Tokyo, I had a nice view of the Red Square including that of the St Basil’s Cathedral and the walls of Kremlin. Luckily Russia has good breads, really good breads. Coming from Japan, that’s a big change. Surprisingly it is not difficult to find good vegetarian food in Russia. Italian restaurants are everywhere and they are good. And this cafe had a good arugula salad and a good mushroom soup. Perfect with good bread, olive oil and marinated olives. No vodka today. Had a few of those yesterday. Beluga. At LUNCH. The way Russians have their vodka. You drink vodka straight. And you drink it fast.
I had been inside the St Basil’s Cathedral earlier in the morning. The interior is pretty alright as compared to the awe inspiring exterior. Built in the 16th century, the colorful onion shaped domes will capture your imagination, and will fill up your camera’s memory card.
Now I’m off to a walking tour of Kremlin. The tour starts in 10 minutes.
