Western Russia: Moscow and Saint Petersburg

The only country that seemed to be worth visiting over Spring Break was Russia. Flights were cheaper than other places in Western Europe, hotels were around $40 a night, and I was able to set up what seemed to be a complete itinerary in Moscow and Saint Petersburg. Why Russia? I loved the Royal Chambers in The Louvre and the Palace of Versailles in Paris. While doing some research, I found about the Hermitage State Museum in Saint Petersburg, a museum that was just about as good as the Louvre museum.  While I only know a few people that have been to Russia, all of them have told me that they loved it. While I'm used to making travel arrangements on my own, needing a visa made me visit a travel agency for the first time ever. 

I went to Any Seasons Travel in Odessa, TX. I told them about my travel plans and they took care of everything, except for what I needed to do online. The process was a little lengthy and weird, but once you're done with that everything should go smoothly.

I flew from Midland to Dallas, from Dallas to London, and from London to Saint Petersburg. Everything went smoothly, except for my bag, which did not arrive, but I could not let that stop my trip, so I decided to start by visiting the only museum that closed late: The Faberge Museum:

I also bought some clothes and deodorant, of course. The first day I visited Saint Isaac's Cathedral:

Followed by the Stroganov Palace.

Then The Russian Muesum:

Mihailovsky Castle (Saint Michael's Castle):

The Church of the Spilled Blood:

And the Marble Palace:

On this  second day, I decided to spend most of the day on the museum that made me visit Russia, the State Hermitage Museum:

And after five hours or so, it took me about half an hour to walk to Peter and Paul Cathedral:

For the third and last day in Saint Petersburg, I took advantage of Uber to have an hour ride to Pushkin, a suburb of Saint Petersburg, and visit Tsarkoe Tselo (Catherine Palace):

And the almost undiscovered Pavlovsk Palace:

It took another hour or so for Uber to take me from Pavlovsk to Peterhov Palace. Photography was forbidden, but as other tourists were using their phone without being told not to do it I took advantage of this (without using flash of course!). I am thankful for the fact that I learned that most of the interior pictures come out better on my Google phone than on my camera. The only problem that I encountered was that the ladies on each chamber would let you walk around slowly, but unless you were on a tour group, they would ask you not to stop. From what my eyes could barely catch a glimpse of, my phone made these permanent memories of the Palace that was supposed to look better than the Palace of Versailles, and the inside certainly was:

The outside is not even nearly as nice as the Palace of Versailles near Paris, but I don't think I've seen nicer royal chambers anywhere else.

The train to Moscow took almost four hours. The western Russia countryside was beautiful, despite having lots of trees with fallen leaves. Pine trees, spruces, and firs, and a snow covered ground made this a beautiful winter wonderland. Not even the train that connects Paris and London was as nice or modern as this one:

Right next to my hotel I discovered Izmailovo, a kind of wooden castle-like buildings with stores and a museum that seems to host temporary painting exhibitions.

The only thing I did not like about Moscow was the terrible traffic. I even had time to take this picture near the red square while stuck in traffic:

It took over an hour for an Uber to take me to the Red Square:

Saint Basil's Cathedral was already closed, so I walked through the Red Square and visited GUM (GOOM), an old-stlye, but at the same time, modern mall:

I loved this grocery store, focused on delciciuos international junk food and alcohol:

The only things that I did not see were toiletries. These pictures were taken that night:

On the fifth and last day in Russia I visited the Kremlin, including these churches:

Sorry for taking pictures when I was not supposed to, I honestly hope that the lack of flash causes no issues and helps me keep and share these memories forever inside these Kremlin churches:

Putin seemed to be receiving no visitors, I think that this is where he lives:

Saint Basil's Cathedral is beautiful on the outside, but not that much on the inside:

I bought some last minute suvenirs from one of the stores at the Delta Gamma hotel, before eating this sort of pizza without tomato sauce.

 I had like three to four hours of sleep, as I left at 2:00 AM to catch a flight to London at 5:40 AM. Domodedovo is the most modern airport that I've seen:

Most Russians will not smile or say hi for no apparent reason, but in times of need they will  try to help you, even if they can't talk to you in English. Most people were very nice. Two out of seven or so Uber drivers who spoke some English tried their best to have a conversation. Without asking about politics, they both told me how unhappy they are with their government.

I feel sorry for a country with such nice people to have a government like they said they do. If they are right about it, now might be the best time to travel and help the community by visiting them.

I sincerely hope that regardless of the political leaders that we have, that world countries will have good and honest relations with Russia again, in a reciprocal way. This has been my favorite part of Europe, I loved Russia.