The Kremlin at night.

Big but not all that imposing.

Beyond the square is the old KGB building, now renamed but employing teh same people doing similar things. On the roof is a heliport that used to be used to ferry prisoners to Siberia. Russian joke: What is the tallest building in Moscow? The KGB building - you you go to the roof you can see Siberia.

BTW: Red Square was named in the 17th century. It has nothing to do with red but relates to a Russian word meaning beautiful.
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St Basils

Nothing really prepares you for the confection that is St Basil's cathedral.

Soccer, football, whatever...

Lots of security about town for the football final in two day.

Happily we will be in St Petersburg by then.

The stadium for Wednesday night.

Turning in his grave

This is Lenin's tomb in Red Square.

The lights are reflections of a large department store on the other side of the square.

I'm not sure he would be happy about this turn of events!

Metro

The Metro has some very pretty stations


Buskers en masse. Nine member chamber orchestra.

They are everywhere...

Lots of churches along the way.

Late evening stop

Some passing scenery

Train food

A restaurant car meal, photographs better than it looks but nice none the less.

A savoury doughnut sold on the train - meat and onion filling.

A station vendor - mixed foods.

Buy crayfish for dinner, if you are game.
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Trans Siberian/Mongolian

At one of the station stops. The line is electric but teh carriage water heaters (samovars) are wood fired.

Translation

P is pronounced as an R
C as an S
H as an N

So the first sign becomes RESTORAN. Restaurant.
BAP = BAR
BAHK = BANK
CA(Greek Phi)E = CAFE.

Greek because St Cyril started the Cyrillic alphabet and used Greek letters.

And the second sign?

A backwards N is pronounced as an I.
A Y is pronounced as a U

So sign two is IRKUTSK. (From the top of the railway station).
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Vendors

Lots of small vendors on the streets are in boxes with small access windows.

Nut vendor at local market. Met up with pine nuts with their shells intact. Now I know why they are pricey.

You see these tankers all over the city. They sell some sort of bread based drink.

Strange but true.
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Downpipes

Most down pipes seem to end long before the ground.
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Mixed images of Irkutsk

The river, this photo reminds me of Whistler's paintings.

Our hotel door had seen better times.

The place is full of ornate windows - carving is the men's winter hobby of choice.


The trams are old but cheap.
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