After a late night at the folk show and dinner on return to the ship we had a 9.00 AM start for a tour of the Kremlin and the Armoury. Due to the Monday morning traffic the trip took
around 1 hour to get to the city. On arrival we had to queue for ticketing and security. This itself was a major feat. Our guide managed to fend off the groups of French and Chinese tourists who believed they had priority over everyone. One particular gentleman felt the need to elbow me in the ribs and abuse me, so being a good tourist I responded accordingly with the same. Before long we were inside security and entering the Kremlin
Western perception of the Kremlin is not entirely accurate. It is not a lock up where foreign visitors are imprisoned and interrogated. It is in fact a town within a town. Much the same as castles in Europe, it is a fortified town, protecting their assets, and more importantly their churches and royalty. After walking through the main square we entered the Armoury. Once used to manufacture and store weapons, it is now a museum, housing original artifacts from the Tsarist era. Items such as the original boots of Peter the Great and a complete history of royal thrones and coaches emphasize the opulance expressed in those times. We found inside a display of imperial Russian military orders and identified most of the orders received by Ann's Grandfather in the early 1900's. Sadly we were unable to take pictures but hopefully we can source online information now.
Outside the armoury, we visited some more churches and cathedrals, one of them being the burial places of the Princes and Tsars from before the times of St Petersburg. Outside the cathedrals we saw the bell tower and the differing sizes of the bells. The largest in the tower weighed 60 ton and was only used to signal the death of a Tsar. The low resonating sound could be heard over long distances. After the main square we walked along the battlements to the Tsar bell.
Outside the armoury, we visited some more churches and cathedrals, one of them being the burial places of the Princes and Tsars from before the times of St Petersburg. Outside the cathedrals we saw the bell tower and the differing sizes of the bells. The largest in the tower weighed 60 ton and was only used to signal the death of a Tsar. The low resonating sound could be heard over long distances. After the main square we walked along the battlements to the Tsar bell.
This is one of 2 silent sentinals. Whenever a new Tsar took the throne, they would cast a new bell, melting down the old bell, and adding more metal. Each time the bell became larger. The last time the bell was cast, the building and scaffold supporting the cast caught alight and water was used to douse the fire. The rapid change in temperature caused the bell to crack and a piece weighing approximately 30 ton fell out. Radial cracks can be seen around the perimeter of the bell. The total weight of the complete bell was around 200 ton. One can only imagine how the bell would sound being of such proportion.
The other silent sentinal is the Tsar Canon. This was commissioned by the Tsar to commemorate his son who was ill and not believed to survive. It was to be fired to signal his passing. The son did actually survive and eventually became Tsar, so the canon was never fired. The canon balls displayed with the canon do not actually fit the canon. Several other smaller canons were also displayed in that area.
Security is of paramount importance in the Kremlin. One must remain on the walkways and stay off the roads. Kremlin security will blow a whistle and indicate you to get back on the path. If you have too many violations you get a free tour of the security office and possibly an all expenses paid holiday in Siberia. 😉We saw several Chinese tourists get whistled at and a very annoyed guard sending them back
After our tour we returned to the ship for lunch and had a bit of free time in the afternoon to do our own thing. The splendid 6 took that opportunity to look at the Metro stations and Old Arbut St. Moscows metro system is not only cheap, but very efficient and some of the stations are very beautiful. For 55 ru (around $1.25) you can ride the metro all day. Trains run every 3 minutes and run radially from the city centre and are connected by ring routes as well. Its a pity we cant even get a tram to turn a corner. We rode between 2 stops and walked back to our meeting point down Old Arbut st.
This is a tourist street and similar to our malls. We all did some last minute gift shopping and got back to the bus on time, ready to return for our farewell dinner.
We were farewelled by the Captain and sat down for our last dinner together and with our wonderful waiters Masha and Dmitriy.
Their service on the ship was exceptional and we will miss their smiling faces. Hopefully they will come to visit us one day. Our group headed to the Presidents lounge for one more drink and dance before going to bed. For some of our group the holiday ends, others it continues in another country but for us a new experience is about to start.
This is a tourist street and similar to our malls. We all did some last minute gift shopping and got back to the bus on time, ready to return for our farewell dinner.
We were farewelled by the Captain and sat down for our last dinner together and with our wonderful waiters Masha and Dmitriy.
Their service on the ship was exceptional and we will miss their smiling faces. Hopefully they will come to visit us one day. Our group headed to the Presidents lounge for one more drink and dance before going to bed. For some of our group the holiday ends, others it continues in another country but for us a new experience is about to start.
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