Lots of pics again, have patience for loading them first...
Moscow is deffinitely more then just the Kremlin. In fact, I'm sure like for any other city in the world, the most famous sites are for the tourists. The real things are off the beaten paths. As I’ve been taken around Moscow mostly by my friends, I have little structure in my wanderings. And even little understanding of where the hell they took me. Here are few places that caught my attention on my way.
This is, actually, not a palace or museum, but one of the tube stations in Moscow – built in Stalin’s time it does impress with the grand scales and fine artworks. Many of the older tube stations in Moscow have been built this way. A very artistic design, usually to reflect the name of the station somehow. I remember when visiting Moscow in childhood I used to take a tube ride just to see these beautiful stations.
Somewhere around the Kremlin walls there is a nice park with a water canal decorated with the sculptures – the folklore fairy tales characters. Rather cute.
This fountain symbolises the four seasons and again takes imagination away by the artistic work. I'd say the sense of freedom in the sculptures is rather inspiring.
The sculptures of the clowns in a small public garden near the Moscow State Circus
this is a funny place – the pedestrian bridge with the few “iron trees” growing in the middle of it. There is a tradition to this place: newlywed couples tend to come here on their wedding day and leave a…padlock with their names and date of the wedding on a tree…they hope to come back over a year time to find their lock still in place…
There is another big war memorial in Moscow – dedicated to all the solders of any war that happened over the history of Russia. It’s a huge complex of various memorials, museum, remembrance hall, church and the displays of the military equipment. It situated on a hill and called – Poklonnaya Gora. Its name is derived from the Russian for "take a bow", as everyone approaching the capital from the west was expected to do homage here.
I’ve been thinking about why I seem to be touched much more by the war memorials then by historical structures…I think, this is partly because of the very personal family connection to the latest war…but also…to think of it…there is completely different perspective on the fighting, when the fighting happened in your “backyard”. I mean – there are plenty of wars in the world and everyone has got their own opinion on the justifications. But I must say: it is easier to make judgments and take sides when it is not on your own land. There is never fairness in any war by definition because people who never wanted the war get involved in it against their will…the “worthiness” of any war should be measured in the amount of broken lives and crossed out futures, and not in which side won and which – surrendered. And maybe all these memorials-reminders of the losses that are scattered all over Russia and Europe as well affect our understanding of what the war REALLY means.
And although the children playing on a tank look cute, I’d prefer them never know what the tank is. *Sigh* I do feel touchy on this particular subject.
Anyway…moving on…I like this particular picture of the The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. Apparently it is the tallest Eastern Orthodox Church in the world, if it matters to anyone anyway…it was built in honor of the victory of Russia over the Napoleon, but the one on the picture is actually second re-incarnation, since the original has been demolished in Bolshevik’s years. The cathedral is beautiful, grand and very well kept nowadays. Yet to me it doesn’t have that cozy “home” feeling to it that many small orthodox churches have. It is just a huge structure, built to impress. And impress it does.
There are of course other places I’ve been and many many more pictures. But one has to stop somewhere anyway. In the end of a day these are my very personal impressions of Moscow, sights that I’ll remember about her. This is what she means to me.
More to come…
Moscow is deffinitely more then just the Kremlin. In fact, I'm sure like for any other city in the world, the most famous sites are for the tourists. The real things are off the beaten paths. As I’ve been taken around Moscow mostly by my friends, I have little structure in my wanderings. And even little understanding of where the hell they took me. Here are few places that caught my attention on my way.
This is, actually, not a palace or museum, but one of the tube stations in Moscow – built in Stalin’s time it does impress with the grand scales and fine artworks. Many of the older tube stations in Moscow have been built this way. A very artistic design, usually to reflect the name of the station somehow. I remember when visiting Moscow in childhood I used to take a tube ride just to see these beautiful stations.
Somewhere around the Kremlin walls there is a nice park with a water canal decorated with the sculptures – the folklore fairy tales characters. Rather cute.
This fountain symbolises the four seasons and again takes imagination away by the artistic work. I'd say the sense of freedom in the sculptures is rather inspiring.
The sculptures of the clowns in a small public garden near the Moscow State Circus
this is a funny place – the pedestrian bridge with the few “iron trees” growing in the middle of it. There is a tradition to this place: newlywed couples tend to come here on their wedding day and leave a…padlock with their names and date of the wedding on a tree…they hope to come back over a year time to find their lock still in place…
There is another big war memorial in Moscow – dedicated to all the solders of any war that happened over the history of Russia. It’s a huge complex of various memorials, museum, remembrance hall, church and the displays of the military equipment. It situated on a hill and called – Poklonnaya Gora. Its name is derived from the Russian for "take a bow", as everyone approaching the capital from the west was expected to do homage here.
I’ve been thinking about why I seem to be touched much more by the war memorials then by historical structures…I think, this is partly because of the very personal family connection to the latest war…but also…to think of it…there is completely different perspective on the fighting, when the fighting happened in your “backyard”. I mean – there are plenty of wars in the world and everyone has got their own opinion on the justifications. But I must say: it is easier to make judgments and take sides when it is not on your own land. There is never fairness in any war by definition because people who never wanted the war get involved in it against their will…the “worthiness” of any war should be measured in the amount of broken lives and crossed out futures, and not in which side won and which – surrendered. And maybe all these memorials-reminders of the losses that are scattered all over Russia and Europe as well affect our understanding of what the war REALLY means.
And although the children playing on a tank look cute, I’d prefer them never know what the tank is. *Sigh* I do feel touchy on this particular subject.
Anyway…moving on…I like this particular picture of the The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. Apparently it is the tallest Eastern Orthodox Church in the world, if it matters to anyone anyway…it was built in honor of the victory of Russia over the Napoleon, but the one on the picture is actually second re-incarnation, since the original has been demolished in Bolshevik’s years. The cathedral is beautiful, grand and very well kept nowadays. Yet to me it doesn’t have that cozy “home” feeling to it that many small orthodox churches have. It is just a huge structure, built to impress. And impress it does.
There are of course other places I’ve been and many many more pictures. But one has to stop somewhere anyway. In the end of a day these are my very personal impressions of Moscow, sights that I’ll remember about her. This is what she means to me.
More to come…