Inside view of the Kremlin. All photos courtesy of the author
«Our first full day in Moscow began, appropriately enough, at the Kremlin, where we saw some of its amazing treasures—including eighteenth-century carriages and tsars' thrones—and had a private tour of the lavish, nineteenth-century Grand Kremlin Palace. (We didn't run into President Putin!)»
Later we had a behind-the-scenes tour of the splendid Bolshoi Theatre, and ended our day with the throngs of Russians crowding Red Square, considered the heart of Russia. The square was festooned in holiday lights and featured a temporary ice rink within sight of Lenin's tomb and the historic Saint Basil's Cathedral.
The crowds in Moscow's Red Square
We also got a taste of the country's art, from Russian icons and Soviet-era paintings at the Tretyakov State Gallery, to the riches of French Impressionism at the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts. The latter's galleries by French Impressionists, as well as Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh, and Henri Matisse reflect the amazing collections assembled by Moscow collectors throughout the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Works on display at the Pushkin Museum
You can see more of my photos from the trip on Instagram.