After a relatively sound night on the overnight train to Moscow, we arrived at Leningradsky railway station and again started our trawl through the city in hope of finding a hotel. Unfortunately, we had not read the guide books thoroughly enough before leaving and we discovered (a little too late) that there are very few hotels (especially cheap ones) in Russia and that you are generally advised not to visit the country without having previously booked. This is partly due to availability and partly due to the Russian's general distrust of foreign people. 

The whole hotel set up is very strange; for example, in what other world capital could you walk in the city centre for over one-and-a-half hours without evening seeing a hotel? We eventually found a fairly centrally located hotel which had availability and promptly checked-in (even if it was financially a little hard to swallow at $240 per night). 

Moscow already felt more comfortable than St. Petersburg, more cosmopolitan perhaps - we couldn't quite put our finger on it, and had definitely enjoyed our time in St. Petersburg, but had gaged quite an uneasy feel? 

As our Moscow hotel was centrally positioned, we went straight to Red Square (which was closed to walk across - no explanation as to why, it was just closed) so instead had a look around the rather elaborately finished GUM building (shopping centre) to the side of the square and opposite the Kremlin wall. We spent a little more time lazing around the park outside the Bolshoy Theatre (closed for renovation) and on benches (to catch up with a little more sleep) before heading out to the Gorky Museum, an ostentatiously decorated Art Nouveau house which I had studied at University (also closed for renovation). 

By the end of the following morning, we were starting to feel a little bit cursed. Not only was Red Square closed to walk across, the Bolshoy Theatre and Gorky House Museum closed for renovation, the Kremlin closed (fortunately only on Thursdays) but we had queued for over two hours for Lenin's Mausoleum only to be turned away by the Russian police when approximately 50 people away from the front and 15 minutes before the expected closure time. We were firmly and dismissively told 'HeT', pronounced 'nyet' (meaning 'no' - get lost) and that was that... no organised cut off point mid-way down the queue like anywhere else in the world, just 'HeT', a shrug - goodbye... 

Nonetheless, whilst in the queue, we got chatting to an English man married to a Russian lady who was full of interesting, sometimes incredible, insights into the country. 
(I was extremely relieved I had not known a lot of what he told us a few days earlier.) 

According to our 'informant', if he can be believed, the main cause of corruption in St. Petersburg comes from the police, not the mafia (who now mainly have reputable businesses) - they apparently work with gypsy children to steal items from tourists and then only accept financial bribes in return - there is nobody to report the police to because the corruption runs up to the highest level and Moscow are not interesting in law enforcement in St. Petersburg - many people carry guns and citizens are left to fend for themselves (relying on who they know and the amount of money they are prepared to spend on bribes). We went on to discuss our experience on our first night in the country - our 'informant' found it both amusing and slightly alarming suggesting we should feel very lucky to get out of there - which I took to mean with our money, rather than our lives. I did not ask for clarification. 

After lunch and a little sulking, we headed towards St. Basil's Church only to find Red Square had been reopened - the barrier had been removed and we could walk straight across. Our moods improved considerably. St. Basil's Church had a far less elaborate interior than the Church of Spilled Blood; however, it would seem that it was designed as more of a pulpit to address a congregation in Red Square than as a place of worship... nonetheless, there were some beautifully passageways painted colourfully in a tradition style with large Moroccan style lanterns. 

We were then very daring and decided to try out the Moscow Metro - we purchased a Cyrillic map of the stations with the hope that we may again re-surface somewhere in the centre of the city. The Moscow Metro is a tourist attraction in its own right and known to be one of the most attractive Metro systems in the world. Commissioned under the rule of Stalin in 1931, the whole country were forced to build the Metro and people were dragged from all over Russia to help with the construction. As a result, 13 stations had opened by 1935 - elaborately designed with fabulous lighting and mosaics, bronzes and statues, all showing hints towards a Soviet/Communist Russia. 

Obtaining tickets turned out to be relatively easy - a mixture of pointing, holding up fingers and apologetically smiling (along with a surprisingly helpful Russian clerk) bought us two tickets at 30 ruples each (approx 60 pence) to ride anywhere in Moscow. We took the red line to Komsomolskaya Station which although built in the 1950s, had a 1930s ostentatious feel with wonderful ceiling light fittings - I was quite excitable! We then took the circle line and stopped to view many more stations (it was a truly efficient service) before once again rejoining the red line, then back up above ground level, relieved to still be in the centre of the city. 

The following morning we set off for the Kremlin - it took us three attempts to get in - our first two attempts involved a security guard taking a certain dislike to Mark. As it turned out, Mark's mood fowl by the time we actually made it through the entry tower, the feeling was mutual, Mark was none too keen on the Kremlin. 

The walk up to the area tourists are allowed into led us passed the Government buildings and the Kremlin Grand Palace (home to the Russian president) both of which from the outside looked very interesting. Black Mercedes and Jaguars with blacked out windows interspersed with the odd black Lada and army truck revealed plenty of activity, but it was all top secret and the area open to tourists was disappointing - I am not quite sure what I was expecting - but it was definitely for something more? The fact half the complex (the only interesting bits - the 20 tonne broken Tsar Bell and Bell Tower) were actually under scaffolding only made matters worse, so we decided to leave. On our way out, we passed the Arsenal which had originally held all the Russian weaponry and is now used as the Military HQ. It was a beautiful building, heavily guarded with cannons to add impact, backing on to the Kremlin wall - for me, definitely the highlight. 

As we left the grounds of the Kremlin, the weather significantly improved and we bought lunch before stationing ourselves once again on benches in the grounds outside Red Square. Later in the afternoon we wandered up to a pre-Revolutionary delicatessen - it was fantastically ornate with enormous decorative ceiling light fittings, beautiful stained glass windows and to top it off, polite Russian staff. 

On our way back to the hotel, Mark was stopped by the police (for absolutely no reason at all)and asked to produce all his of paperwork - passport/visa/accommodation stamps etc. Fortunately, we had everything on us so the policeman enquired about when we were planning to leave the country. When Mark responded 'later today', the policeman just smirked and sent us off with a dismissive wave - we were fortunate not to have been fined (it was after all a Friday and he may well have been planning a visit to a 'sauna' in St. Petersburg over the weekend?) 

For dinner we went to an Armenian restaurant (as suggested by our 'informant' the previous day). We chose black caviar (sturgeon roe which tastes very fishy), rather than the cheaper red caviar (salmon roe which tastes like rock salt) followed by sturgeon/lamb kebabs and a round of vodka (served in enormous glasses) which I, pathetically, did not manage to finish. 

We later wandered back to Red Square to see St. Basil's Church and the GUM building illuminated (the later, sadly, resembled a Disney attraction). We sat and watched people in the square for a while before catching a taxi to the airport for our flight back to London, Heathrow and our connection for China and the rest of our trip.