9-21-09 8:18am CST, 5:15pm Moscow time. So I went off on my own for most of the day today, checking out a place called Tsaritsyno. It's a huge palace and grounds that was commissioined by Catherine the Great. She went out to check it out when it was halfway done and decided she didn't like it. It sat incomplete for quite a long time and then 2was ultimately completed. It was such a beautiful park that was in the middle of an absolutely prototypical Moscow suburb. I got off the Metro, came up the stairs and assumed the park would be right there. Uh, no. There were apartment buildings everywhere and not a blade of grass within sight. I finally asked an old woman where the park was and she told me to follow the road under the bridge and the park was right there. It seemed impossible but as soon as I came from under the bridge, there was this enormous, beautiful park. It was a beautiful day so I checked out the grounds and the palace.
The first pictures from this new batch are from Christ the Redeemer Church. This is about two blocks from Pat and Lena's house and is the main church in Russian Orthodox. As you probably know, the Soviets had torn down many of the old churches during their reign. This one was rebuilt in the 90s. When I was here the first time, the site was a big, public pool that was open year round. I totally remember driving by and January and seeing all the people swim in the pool with steam rising from the warm water.
Additionally, there are photos of a statue of Peter the Great (although really its a statue of Christopher Columbus that Spain didn't want and gave it to the Russians). It's pretty obvious its Chris Columbus.

I also took some photos of Moscows downtown section. They don't seem like anything out of the ordinary in the states, but they don't have skyscrapers here. Moscow was supposed to be the new center of finance in Europe before the financial crisis, now most of the buildings sit incomplete.

I think I have walked 30 miles since I got here, pretty ridiculous.