Last days in Russia

We had an eventful last few days in Moscow...

Saw the Kremlin, which is essentially a big walled city with lots of cathedrals in it, and the houses of parliament. I think Em was expecting a few more KGB spies and excitement. But, we got our excitement on leaving the Kremlin, when we saw (from a distance) Moscow riot police! Not just one or two... but dozens of them - all with batons and helmets. We decided to keep our distance from whatever they were trying to control, but on walking away from Red Square we saw a group of people running towards us (and away from where the riot police had been). Behind us someone yelled "RUN RUN RUN! It's very bad!"... so we ran!

We now have bags full of babooshkas (they call them Matrushka dolls here) and mini Faberge eggs. Moscow was a daggy tourist souvenir shoppers heaven!

We've finally had some time to upload photos to Flickr... (from Tallinn, Sareemaa and St Petersburg)

Here are some of our favourites from St Petersburg:

Church on Spilled Blood
(Built on the site where Alexander II was assasinated in 1881. Looks a little bit like St Basil's in Moscow)


Palace Square
(The square outside the Winter Palace and the Hermitage)


Inside the Hermitage
(The Hermitage is made up of 5 buildings, one of which is the Tsar's Winter Palace)