When I had the opportunity of flying to Moscow I immediately accepted. Another dream of mine was getting true.
When in Moscow I was a bit afraid that the images of the city I had been heaping up in my mind were not up to the reality of that metropolis because I had mentally built an aura as to them in my imagination. But no disappointment when I stepped into the cold, white-clad capital. These were my feelings when I started touring through it.
The sightseeing points that first impressed me were the underground and the University skyscraper (Moskovsky gosudarstvenny universitet).
I found the former always crowded with travellers and passengers who moved from train to train from line to line from one escalator to another in what I define a "surrealistic order". And what to say of the underground stations! All of them look quite different from one another because of their rich decorations: mosaics, paintings, sculptures, all meant to represent moments of the Communist Power during the 40s. The décor is brightly lit by unbelievably majestic, artistic, imposing chandeliers in different shapes and sizes made of precious glass material. This popular means of transport has been the most important from and artistic, political, historical point of view that I have ever seen in my life up to now. I'd like to mention a few stations, not just to make a bare list of unpronounceable names, but to tell you about the ones which impressed me more. Let me start from Novoslobodskaya, dedicated to country people's hard work as well as to the children's playing in a myriad of multicoloured flowers. Then I visited Taganskaya, Prospekt Mira, Mayokovskaya and Ploshchad Revolyutsii. Might their mention be useful in case you go to Moscow, or might they remind you of a trip to Moscow you took in the past? As to the State University skyscraper I wanted to have a look at it by night when the electric lights played strange shadows that made the 36-story-building even more imposing. Actually, it is one of the so called "seven sisters" built during Stalin's times. Situated on a very large park south of Moscow I found it very pleasant to have a 360° view of the city by night.
The Red Square (Krasnaya ploshchad) was a "must" in my tour. So I went to see it and I was struck by that imposing space well different from the picture I had built in my mind from TV and documentary films. On one end there stands the Church of St. Basil (Sobor Vasilia Blazhennogo) whose gold decorations make it precious, fascinating, and unique. At the other end of the square there is a red - brick - building which houses the Museum of National History (Gosudarstvenny Istorichesky Muzey). A lot of people going up and down, to and fro in front of a building on one side of the Square attracted my attention. They were tourists from all over the world looking at a huge pale-pink-brick- building: the Kremlin with its shape of an equal triangle, a picturesque style of the East. Parties of soldiers marched in a cadenced pace over the paving. I was told that they were more numerous on that day because of political voting.
I am sure I'll never forget the monument to the Unknown Warrior, and not only for its sad meaning but for the way that memory has been made in to bronze. An ever-burning flame represents an unforgettable sacrifice; a military coat was laid behind the flame as if thrown there by the wind of war and death. The bronze makes the coat heavier as if to symbolize the weight of a tragic destiny. The coat contains no human figure, because the soldier is unknown. At a certain moment there was the changing of the guard. The soldiers changed their shift with sober gestures which seemed to me laden with history.
A visit to several Monasteries among which Novodevichy Monastery with the churchyard where lie famous people: Nikita Chruscev, Nikolaj Gogol, Anton Cechov, Nadezhda Allilueva. Those graves under a thick layer of spotless white snow, silent and brightly lit by the dazzling rays of a pale sun arose a lot of long-forgotten memories and thoughts about life and death. An unreal game of chess where you lose at the end: Sha mah!
Last but not least, the periphery of Moscow offered me the sights of Kolomenskoe, declared patrimony of mankind by UNESCO, for its position on top of a hill near the Moscowa. There I attended part of a Mass celebrated after the Orthodox rite in Kazan Church (Kazanskaya tserkov), small but a real jewel. Not far from Kolomenskoe Tsaritsino Palace (Tsaritsinsky Dvorets) stands in memory of Catherine the Great. What impressed me was the general view of the landscape: the snow covered anything with its spotless white mantle; in this uniformity the Palace stood like a white ghost with glassless windows and doors leading nowhere. A gloomy, miserable sight of past greatness. Being in Moscow I could not but pay a visit to Sergiev Posad, a town built around the Monastery of St Sergiev's Trinity. I asked about the importance of the place and I realized that I was in one of the most sacred places of the Orthodox faith.
After said edifying visits, I wanted to give myself to something that could get me near the people. Accordingly, I decided to taste some Russian meals. So did I. I'll always remember the meal I had at a typical Georgian restaurant whose dishes had been advised to me by a friend from Georgia. A real treat!
Before leaving Moscow I wanted to see the antique market in Izmaylovsky Park. So I betook myself there and I was pleased to see icons so splendid that I supposed they were precious ones.
I regret not seeing flowers but winter was at its dead.
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