Rubles and Ramblings: Moscow: Day 1

After the longest and one of the best weeks of my life, I am finally able to sit down and write about what I've been up to since March 20th. Spring break began in Moscow where my study abroad group was in the city for 2 days. The differences between Moscow and St. Petersburg really took me by surprise. Moscow is much more metropolitan whereas St. Pete has an old European charm. I loved both cities, but St. Petersburg still has my heart.

The first day in the city I got to see the most iconic part of Russia, St. Basil's Cathedral in Red Square. It was truly unbelievable. Here's my girl Tessa and I posing in front of the onion domes...

Red Square is also home to Lenin's mausoleum. Unfortunately I couldn't see Lenin's preserved body because he is currently taking a nice chemical bath...Seriously disappointed. Here are some more pics from the beautiful Red Square....Yes, my friends actually handed out donuts in paper Krispy Kreme hats.

Free donuts anyone?

St. Basil's & the Russian police

Mobile ice cream stand

After exploring Red Square, I checked out ГУМ (pronounced goom), a huge Russian department store that lines one side of Red Square. We went to a soviet era ice cream stand where I had a delicious scoop of pistachio with friends.

I also was able to walk on the bridge that Russian politician Boris Nemtsov was assassinated. Flowers and ribbons line the wall at the site, it was very moving & something I won't forget.

On a much more cheerful note...After touring around the city and seeing the famous sites, we went to a Russian circus!! Smelling the popcorn & cotton candy, seeing the monkeys posing for pictures, and watching the little Russian boys and girls run around toys brought out my inner 8 year old. The circus was one of the best I have ever seen. They had amazing acrobats that put me on the edge of my seat the entire time. The lions and tigers was equally exhilarating, there were 10 in total doing tricks! It was hard (and against the rules) to take photos during the show, but here's some others I was able to snap.