We went to breakfast at McDonald’s (evil I know, but I ate Blinis which are Russian pancakes). The McD’s is very popular, there is even a walk-up window outside since people don’t have cars. Lots of lines, so we felt very Russian. Until the handed us the English menus.

We went to Red Square and waiting an hour and a half in the freezing rain to see Lenin’s Mausoleum. It was a very complicated process and involved us checking out bags for 60 rubles and running every which ways at the command of scary Russian police officers. I was very impressed with the Mausoleum though. They let fewer people in at a time and you are fairly close to the body (compared to Mao in Beijing). The whole thing was very solemn and respectful. It didn’t feel like forced propaganda the way it did in China. After though we were so wet that we sat in Sbarro’s pizza for ages to eat, warm-up and dry-off (the last 2 didn’t work too well). We eventually ventured to Saint Basil’s Cathedral which is amazingly beautiful, inside and out. The inside is small and old but full of lots of little rooms and narrow passages (and a million tourists). There was an acapella group singing hymns that echoed off the walls and ceilings as we explored.



We walked the long way around the Kremlin and by the time we got there it was near closing time (and the armory tickets were sold out). Ruan and I went back to the hostel to dry out (followed by drinks and nachos at Hard Rock).