Moscow (Part 1)

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A concert hall by the hotel
Everything in Moscow seemed kind of imposing.

 

 

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Our hotel at Izmailovsky Park
The Gamma hotel is a huge functional hotel near where the 1980 Moscow Olympics were held. Not a hotel I will revisit; the rooms were dirty and basic and there were prostitutes hanging out in the foyer looking for business.

 

 

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Kitsch-looking building by hotel 
Not sure what this was, but it was decidedly kitsch with the fake icicles.

 

 

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Wooden sculpture in Izmailovsky Park
There seemed to be some sort of a theme park situated in Izmailovsky Park attracting quite a few of the locals.

 

 

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Theme park in Izmailovsky Park
I think this is the entrance to the theme park.

 

 

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The Moscow Metro
Clean, fast, frequent and beauiful; no other underground system in the world have I been more impressed. With many elegant stations the Moscow Metro is a museum in its own right. Let’s hope that advertising doesn’t find its way down here!

 

 

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The Moscow Metro
One of countless displays in the Moscow Metro.

 

 

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Elektrozavodskaya Station
One of my favourite Metro stations. They need to a replace a few lights though.

 

 

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Elektrozavodskaya Station
Art in the Moscow Metro.

 

 

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Teatralnaya Station
This station in the Moscow Metro is home to many bronze statues portraying great heroes during the socialist era.

 

 

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Flowers on hero’s bust in Moscow Metro
I’m not sure who this bust portrays, but someone felt the need to lay a few flowers on it.

 

 

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Ceiling mosaic at Mayakovskaya Station
In possibly one of the most elegant contemporary stations in the world, every ceiling portal had a different mosaic, mostly depicting aviation and space age achievements during Soviet times.

 

 

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What happens when the West takes over!
Like much of most of the former Eastern Bloc and China, getting to grips with controlling street clutter with advertisements has not developed yet. Given time, I hope the novelty value will wear off!

 

 

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Elegant Moscow building
Russian architecture never fails to impress.

 

 

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Not your average brick!
This building is comprised of enormous stone blocks.

 

 

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The lizard vendor?
With a snake and an iguana, I wasn’t too sure if he was trying to sell them or not!

 

 

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Inside the Kremlin
Yes, just about every tourist goes to the Kremlin!

 

 

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Much photographed cannon
Reputedly the largest cannonball, but apparently, never fired.

 

 

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Kremlin’s broken bell
The size of this bell, put to scale by this Polish family, is absolutely enormous. Well, the United States has its broken bell, and so do the Russians!

 

 

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Fabergé eggs in Kremlin
Gold wind-up model train and fabergé egg.

 

 

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Just one more fabergé egg
A little overkill, this one!

 

 

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Stonework in the Kremlin
I liked the texture created by the stonework on this building within the Kremlin.

 

 

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Inside a Kremlin church
Unfortunately, the photograph is a little blurry, but I thought the icons were particularly beautiful.

 

 

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Gold onion domes in the Kremlin
One can become a little ‘overchurched’ whilst visiting Russia, but here’s an example of an Orthodox church.

 

 

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Entrance to Gorky Park
I was impressed by this huge gateway leading to one of Moscow’s many large parks. Gorky Park is popular with the kids with its theme parks.

 

 

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The Sculpture’s Park
Built after the demise of the Soviet Union, many of the fallen statues were re-erected here amongst these modern sculptures. Many of the sculptures are distorted and rather disturbing to look at.

 

 

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The Sculpture’s Park
Amusing sculpture of a goalie catching a football.

 

 

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Felix Dzerzhinsky in Sculpture’s Park
Previously located outside KGB headquarters, this most-hated statue of KGB founder, Felix Dzerzhinsky, complete with yellow stain awaits patiently to be freed from the Sculpture’s Park and re-instated back in Lubyanka Square.

 

 

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The Sculpture’s Park
The modern ghostly sculptures here seem to guard the imprisoned fallen statues.

 

 

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The Sculpture’s Park
Very strange exhibit of stone heads in a cage. Can you spot me in the photo?

 

 

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Stalin has lost his nose
… and he’s still being photographed next to smiling children!

 

 

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 Karl Marx in Sculpture’s Park
I reckon this probably would have been frowned upon during the Soviet era.

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