Moscowwwwwwwwwwww.

Ok, before getting to Moscow, I want to rewind to dinner last night before the ballet -- which I thought was delicious! Like I said, we ate at this somewhat touristy restaurant called Sadko which was just across the street from the Mariinsky Theater where we were seeing the ballet at 8. It was kind of bizarre and it seemed like only big groups of foreign tourists were eating there before they went across to the ballet. There was a huge table in the middle of the dining room which had autographed plates from famous people that had eaten there -- again, a dubious sign.

But I decided to order what my mom had gotten the day before -- chicken wrapped in breadcrumbs and then sauteed (or maybe baked -- it's unclear) and then I asked for potato pancakes instead of the mashed potatoes -- those were a little less impressive, but oh well. But what was kind of funny was that it was literally little cubes of break stuck all over the chicken. And the chicken was ground up and then made into cutlet shapes, which sounds weird but it was really good. Oh, and the chocolate cake was incredible too.

Russian specialty! 

Delicious chocolate cake....

Today, we left St. Petersburg and headed for Moscow. We got kind of a slow start this morning, which normally wouldn't be a terrible thing, but we were trying to see the French impressionist paintings at the Hermitage before our train at 1:30. We left for the Hermitage around 10:45 and traffic wasn't really cooperating. Getting to the Hermitage and around that area proves to be very difficult and crowded. But we got there, spent about 45 minutes seeing just a few things, and then it painfully took almost 30 minutes to get back to the hotel. We were supposed to leave the hotel for the train station at 12:15, we got back after 12:30, left for the station around 12:45 -- and once again, traffic wasn't helping. I think we were all prepared to miss the train...but were still hoping we wouldn't. And somehow with just a few minutes to spare, we made it on and to our seats! The train ride was about 4 and a half hours which seemed to pass rather quickly. The countryside is so green and dotted with somewhat depressing little villages which were interesting to see. 

We arrived in Moscow around 6 and were met by a car from our hotel. Once again, I've been extremely spoiled with all of the hotels we are staying in. We are currently at the Marriott Aurora which is right around the corner from Red Square and Saint Basil's Cathedral. Hard to beat the location. It's a beautiful hotel and because my dad is the best, we are able to use the Executive Lounge - which is where I am now because it's where I can get internet! Once again, it's not free in the rooms...it's been hard, but somehow I'm surviving. We had some snacks in the lounge for dinner and then took a stroll around the area. It's definitely different from St. Petersburg. Moscow seems much more international and busy as a city. There are tons of young people and everyone is dressed up and looks nice all the time. Definitely a shift. 

Moscow Train Station

Part of the Kremlin (I think)

St. Basil's Cathedral -- sorry, there will probably be tons of pictures of this because I just think it's so cool....

Once again

Tomorrow, we'll start to actually learn what we're looking at and what the history is behind everything! I really like the feel of Moscow (pronounced Mos-co rather than Mos-cow) and I'm excited to spend more time here! 

A demain!