We have made it to the half-way point of our trip; two out of the twelve airplane flights are behind us.  The flights went flawlessly-only a minor delay between St. Louis and New York due to storms, but beyond that it was great.  So we spent the night Saturday in New York and then spent the day (and night) Sunday in Moscow.

Alexander, our Moscow coordinator, took us on a tour of the downtown.  Our first stop was McDonald’s.  It was a bit nicer than the McDonald’s in our area (I don’t normally see the manager walking around in a suit in our McDonald’s), but the food was pretty much the same.  (By comparison, the food I ate at the Minsk McDonald’s when I visited there was the best I’ve ever eaten).

From McDonald’s, we went on a walking tour of Moscow.  We took a walk down Arbat street.  Arbat street is one of those beautiful European streets that they have blocked off to auto traffic, paved with nice brick, and put practical things among the historic treasures, like Starbucks and a Hard Rock Cafe.   The architecture of the street was more uniform than most in Moscow, and had little of the Soviet utilitarian influence (though it was still there).

We walked from there to the Kremlin.  As Alexander told us, many cities have a Kremlin; the word kremlin just means “fortress”.  But this is the Kremlin.  We chose not to go into the Kremlin itself, but walk around it because of it costing money.  (Alexander is very good about pointing these things out).  Everything around the Kremlin is pristine with immaculate landscaping, flower gardens, and buildings.  We walked around the outside walls and I got several good pictures of some of the twenty towers-each constructed in a different style.  There are also several churches around it as well.

We walked around it, and then walked into Red Square.  It was Sunday afternoon, and people were everywhere.  They were also setting up for an event (we aren’t sure, we think it may have to do with Ivan the Terrible’s 500th birthday which is this week).  Growing up, the one image I got of Russia (over and over and over again) was that of a military parade with tanks and missiles going past an on-looking head of state (a pleased looking on-looking head of state) through Red Square.  So it was a bit odd to see them constructing a temporary ice rink in the middle of it.

We did take a tour of St. Basil’s Cathedral, which is probably the most iconic figure of Russia.  According to Alexander, the Russians attempted to tear it down several times (reasons ranging from opposition to the church to it just “being in the way.”)  Fortunately it was never torn down.  The architecture is beautiful, though moving around it is a bit confusing.  It consists of nine “churches”, which to explain it in a way that my friends would understand, nine alters.  Each alter, as in the Russian Orthodox tradition is behind a screen, normally with artwork depicting various scenes.  There is a door to the alter, with Christ at the left and the icon or saint that the church is dedicated to on the right.  So the icon is on the right.  Christ is on the left.  I feel sorry for them- they don’t understand that Christ is the door.  There is no screen for those in Him.  I was separated from the alter, but with Christ, I have full access.  We visited on Sunday, and so they were having service.  There are no pews in the building, just a space where people could gather (15-20 in most of them, one “church” was larger and could probably fit 40-50 people, if they were crowded in.  (I put “church” in quotes because I am referring to the structure around the alter, not the the body of believers that would describe an ekklesia).  What may be the best part of the experience was the singing.  There were two groups singing, one was a priest who would sing a short bit and then he was followed by a choir.  The second was a small men’s ensemble.  Both were perfectly in tune and harmony, and sounded like a professional recording, and echoed throughout the building.  It was (sorry Gary) the most beautiful music I have ever heard in a church.

After we saw the cathedral, Alexander was very eager to take us on the subway, not to really go anywhere but so that we could go on the subway.  The subway itself was our destination.  The reason is because of the art and architecture.  Each station is dedicated to a different theme.  One was dedicated to the Russian people and had large bronze statues depicting Russian life- a soldier, peasant, engineer, laborer, etc.  Another station had mosaics of scenes depicting the wonderful relationship between Russia and Ukraine.  The trains run every one to two minutes.  We went to a couple of stations and then came back to our hotel-we were too tired to go on!  We were still on New York time, so by then it was about six am there- we had stayed up all night!

We are staying at the Belgrad.    The price is good for the location.  There are “renovated rooms” and “non-renovated rooms.”  We are staying in a “non-renovated room.”  (At least I hope its a non-renovated room!)  The most interesting thing about it is the bed- there isn’t a sheet per say, but there is… I’m not sure how to describe it.  It is a personal sheet, and is basically a bag.  So I slept in a sheet bag last night.  As for the location, I love it.  It is within walking distance to the Kremlin, across the street from the subway, and a few blocks away from the US Embassy (where we will be visiting on our second trip).  As I type this I can look out from the desk sitting at a bay window on the 10th floor, with a view of two of Stalin’s seven sisters, the Russian White House, the Moscow River, and an eclectic mix of buildings ranging from an 18th century onion domed cathedral to 19th century European structures to hideous Soviet-style block buildings, to modern skyscrapers.  Moscow is a city that is very interesting to look at.

That was all yesterday (I think).  (At any given moment my main thought is, “What is today?”)  Today we went to do our medicals.  And we passed!  Hurray!  They asked us the ages of our biological children, asked if we anticipate any changes, if we drank or smoked or did did drugs, and if there was any psychological problems in my family.  Mostly they just read the things.  I’m really surprised nobody mentioned my amazing blood work.  I’m anemic, so it is pretty off-but they did not.  We signed several things, got several more things stamped, so it should be official.  We are really ready to go see  the boys- one Wednesday and one Thursday.

Today Alexander took us to see a couple more sights after the  medicals were done.  He took us up to “the hill”  which is a hill overlooking the Moscow River and Moscow.  Wonderful views!  He also took us to see a convent where the czars would send their wives before they divorced them so that they could get remarried. (I’ve heard the Russian Orthodox church allows 3 remarriages, but I don’t know if that only pertains to czars or if that is true at all!)  We also got to go to a rebuilt Church; the original was demolished in the 30’s to make way for a large government building that never got built, and eventually put in a swimming pool,  until finally in 1992 it was rebuilt.

We are getting ready to do our medicals (as I am typing this-they are probably be done by the time I am posting it).  Today Alexander plans to take us to “The Hill”.  I don’t know what is there, but he is very excited to tell us about it.  Tuesday we catch our flight to Vladivostok, which arrives Wednesday.  We will get of the plane, check into our hotel, and go see the younger of the boys.  (In two weeks I’ll call them by name instead of “one of the boys.”  We  are getting closer.  Court on Friday!