Sights

"Where do  you want to go as part of the cultural programme?" I was asked

"Wherever you take me." 

The usual places were recited and I answered that all these had been through my eyes. 

My friend, who was going to take me around suggested the museums of Kremlin.  I was ready. 

Travel was by the metro and each station was a sight in itself. Each of them built in a different fashion, an idea which had appealed to me in my earlier visit also. 

As I was trying to read the Russian script everywhere, my friend with the help of his wife's Apple IPad and a series of phone calls announced that you should go around Moscow on any day except Thursday, as the museums were closed on Thursdays. He sighed. I did not lose hope. Moscow isn't that small. 

Sitting in a cafe in  Arbatskaya we charted out a plan for the day. It was already twelve noon and the next thing in our mind was lunch. So we decided that we will go to a mall for lunch, then to a art gallery, Gorky Park and a tower. He was very excited about the tower and said that we have to make it there even if we don't go to the other places.

By the time we completed our lunch it was two. My friend told me that we have to skip the art gallery or the Park. I told him to choose the one nearest to the tower. So, we went to the Tretyakov art gallery (http://www.tretyakovgallery.ru/en/). I wasn't much attracted to the paintings, though most of them were done with perfection and almost resembled the actual scenes. 

From there we again commuted in metro to a place called VDNKh. Coming out of the station, the first thing which caught my eye was this monument which was rising to the sky.

This towering structure which captured my attention and obviously inspired to move the shutter of my camera which had been idle so far, housed beneath it The Museum of Astronautics and Aeronautic.

 The rocket at the top is a memorial of the Sputnik. The silver rocket soars to a height of 100 meters and rests on a stream of titanium which has its foundation on granite. The granite foundation has carvings celebrating the efforts of the people, which gives the title "The People as Creator" to this monument.

 

I did want to visit the interior of the museum but then we had to move on, lest we miss the tower.

A short metro trip and as if the craning for the rocket was not enough, I stood underneath a tower which had held the title as the tallest monument for a good number of years.

The Moscow TV Centre or Ostankino TV Tower (http://www.tvtower.ru/2_Razdel_TotalInfo/eng/) scales 540 m and is quite a tall building. It held the tallest tower in the world title for nine years from 1967 and the second tallest tower after the CN Tower in Canada for 31 years. I had to really struggle to get a good photograph of this monument and this was the best I could manage.

There were guided excursions and we decided to go with them. At the base of the tower, the tower's history, the people behind it and some holographic images transmitted by it were exhibited. A guide came over and explained the same in Russian to our small group. I looked clueless as I made a mental note to read about it later.

Once the introduction was over, we were ushered into two lifts which took us to the 337th floor. I thought it would take some time but the lift zoomed at the rate of 7 m/s to reach the floor in a jiffy. We were able to witness the climb in a monitor which relayed the views from a camera fitted above the lift box. As we were climbing, I could feel my ears getting blocked.

The view from the top was simply amazing. I did not pay much heed to the guide's Russian description about the tower and the views, but went by the displays which had English words on them. 

Evening sky over Moscow City

Setting sun and looming rain, playing hide and seek

A view of the rocket

 Top view of a Metro station

A busy lane and a metro line

After spending about thirty minutes at the top we were brought down by the same lifts. It was nearing the end of the day and as we took the metro back to our rooms, I reminisced a day which started unsure but turned out to be well spent.