RUSSIA

Moscow, Day 1

MOSCOW, Feb 25 – I was originally planning to spend Sunday Feb 26 catching up with some friends here, in Moscow, but that all changed when I arrived in Vienna a couple of days ago.  I learned that the Russian government had apparently declared Sunday a workday - to compensate for taking Friday off and making Thursday-Saturday a three-day "weekend". So my local hosts had a full slate of meetings lined up for me for Sunday.  Oh well, I figured I'd catch up with my friends in the evenings.

We arrived in Moscow from Warsaw in late afternoon on Saturday, Feb 25 (see the Sheremetyevo airport above).  Right after checking into the Metropol hotel in the heart of Moscow (see below)...

Hotel Metropol and Red Square

...I took my three IBM friends, who had never been to Moscow before (at least not this part), on a brief walking tour of the Red Square and the surrounding area while there was still some daylight left.  The pictures that follow are a selection of photos we took from that walk...

This, for example, are some ice sculptures close to the entrance to the Red Square.

At the entrance to the Red Square with two of my IBM friends - Elaine (US) and Dunja (UK).

A view of the Red Square from on a snowy Saturday afternoon.

It was so cold that I shivered and said a loud "BRRR..." as his picture was snapped.

A close up of the beautiful church with my IBM friend Roman (Austria) in front of it.

We then walked into GUM, one of the world's oldest and the most beautiful indoor malls, built in the pre-communist era.  The three-level mall building spans the full length of the Red Square, and has three parallel corridors, like the one above, full of stores.  That's where I left my IBM friends to do their shopping and sightseeing on their own, while I went to catch up with some of my Russian friends.

On my way out, I was attracted by the sounds of singing and chanting coming from a nearby church.  I walked in and attended briefly an Orthodox church service that in progress.

Back at the Metropol, I took this picture of its main dining room - one of the most beautiful restaurants I have ever seen anywhere in the world.  In fact, it almost feels like an insult to call it a restaurant.  I had visions of the grand balls in tsarist time taking place at this very spot, with wigged and powdered gentry dancing to Bach and Vivaldi music.

Here's, for example, a gorgeous flower arrangement in the middle of a fountain that graces the center of the dining room.

And the same scene with Olya (right) and Sonya (left), my two Russian friends whom I actually met through my daughter Tanja, who had lived in Moscow for almost seven years now (she is in the U.S. at the moment).

The mother (Olya) and the daughter (Sonya) dressed appropriately for Russian winter,  unlike yours truly, an Arizonan who does not own any real winter clothes.

Visit to Turandot Restaurant

After dinner, Olya suggested we go for dessert and coffee to a new Russian restaurant on Tverskaya Boulevard (the theater and arts district).  I still had work to do, but relented for the sake of new experiences.  I am so glad I did.  For, what I saw was absolutely incredible...

Olya and I were first given a private tour of the "Turandot" restaurant by this maitre d'.  Once again, the word "restaurant" does not fit the ambiance.  For this was a 30,000-square foot mini-Versailles, created in the Baroque style by 500 Russian artists who worked for seven years on the project.  They used some real antiques but mostly created new art and made it look like antiques.  Ever heard of a $70 million-restaurant?  I had not.  That's how much the owner, a wealthy Russian of French descent, spent on the Turandor.

The entire time we had spent at Turandot a quartet, seated in the middle of the restaurant under that dome (above), played beautiful 18th century classical music.  All staff were also dressed in the period costumes.  I felt as if I were on a movie set rather than in real life.

"Moscow by Night"

I decided to walk back to my hotel from the restaurant, and took some "Moscow by night" shots along the way...

The GUM (mall, left) is spectacularly illuminated at night, as you can see.

The same ice sculptures near the Metropol hotel late Saturday night.

(CLICK HERE to go to Moscow, Days 2-3)

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