Day 1/2 15 Days Russia + Scandinavia

Day 1

Like all guided tours to Europe or the States, day 1 and last day are always a cheat.

We meet at the airport at 11:30pm (why? I have no idea, our flight is at 2:30am???) I was in a lousy mood when I reached the airport cos I rushed down from a company function and it had been a long day for me :(

We walked around the airport like wandering souls. I can totally understand why Changi Airport is one of the tops in the world. All the facilities there are for the comfort of the passengers. Unfortunately, when I was lying down on the comfy chair trying to get a power nap, the workers are repairing the floors and when it's in a practically empty airport, the noise is amplified! I know, i know it does not make sense to do the repairs during the day but all the passengers who are traveling at such an ungodly hour are all very tired.

Fortunately I knock out when I board the plane and woke up fresh ready to take on our the new adventures.

Day 2

We arrived at Moscow International Airport in the morning ready to see the city.

Moscow Domodedovo Airport

Everybody was excited and perky, we waited quite a while for the coach to arrive as the flight was early. The journey to the city center was not very interesting, we saw a couple of nice orthodox churches and that was about it. The local guide with us was a very young guy (Yuri? or Syria), he has a very thick accent and he did not say much during our journey to the city so we took in the sights in silence. It will help if he shared some facts and info about Moscow. He did clarified later that he did not do any commentary because we will be doing a city tour the next day but i would rather if he shared some info.

To start our trip we had a proper Russian lunch (i hope? oh well it's western at least). Regardless of the taste, it's actually quite good, it's great that we had western instead of chinese food. My last guided tour to Europe comprise only Chinese food but that was years & years ago.

After a happy meal, we visited our first attractions ... Moscow Kremlin

Kremlin is a historic fortified complex in the heart of Moscow, comprising the wall, towers, cathedrals and palaces.
http://www.kreml.ru/en/

Kremlin Tower

Cathedral of 12 Apostles

Church of the Virgin Gown's Deposition, Cathedral of Annunciation

Concert Hall in the Kremlin

After that we proceeded to the Red Square and the famous St Basil's Cathedral.

Entrance to Red Square

St Basil's Cathedral

GUM Department Store

After dinner at a chinese restaurant (the dishes are nothing to shout about, very much like the dishes served when you go China for tours, i.e. tomato egg soup, cold cucumber, etc). The unique feature of the restaurant was the dragon basin :), we went to the Moscow Circus!!!

It's a must-see if you visit Moscow and for a 2.5 hrs show is only cost EUR15. Sadly no photographs are allowed. My fav is the lion show (12 in the den!!!) and all the animal shows :)

Back to hotel after the show... coming up Day 3