A day at the kremlin, part 2

I got up early, googled the Kremlin, took the bike and rode to the subway station. (I had to pay for the bike on the subway and you almost go through as much security in a subway Stirn here as you do at the airport. Metal detectors, running your bags through the X-ray machines, the whole nine yards.) No, I didn't go to Moscow. A Kremlin is simply a fortress and just about every town/city in Russia has one. It's similar to all the castles along the Rhine River.

I got off at the right stop, made my way up the hill and met another cyclist. She had come from Moscow to go sightseeing. I locked my bike up and went in. I rented an audio guide in English and it was great. Everyone is so hospitable. The cashiers ran all over looking for an audio guide in English.

 The Kremlin itself is free, but the museums inside have an entrance fee. It will take me a week just to see those. The mosque in the picture was built within the last 20 years on the site of a very old one. It's the Kul Sharif. The Orthodox Church is the one with the onion domes. Both church and mosque require the women to cover their heads and neither place has chairs for the worshippers. The Orthdox Church had beautiful icons but photography was forbidden.

I spent about 2 hours at the Kremlin, then followed the map to the pedestrian zone which can compare to any I've seen in Germany. And I'm sure the beautiful weather encouraged people to get out today. I found Caffeine, an Internet cafe which a colleague had recommended , and went in. I had a nice plate of pasta with a great sauce, a cup of coffee and apple strudel. (They also serve a "Trump omelette"!) I sat there for ages and sent messages because I was glad to sit down after all that walking in the Kremlin.

When I finally started moving again, I pushed the bike through the pedestrian zone. I donated some change to a bunch of young people making noise to call attention to the fact that they were collecting to build a gym for an orphanage. The guy who explained everything to me spoke pretty good English.

I then made my way to the Museum of Soviet Lifestyle. It was really funny. They had collected absolutely everything from chewing gum to guitars of musicians who had performed in Kazan. Joe Cocker is Among them! The signs are all written on little pieces of cardboard boxes. But the hilarious part was the 20-30 year-old guys who were having such a great time trying on the old Soviet Army uniforms. They were having so much fun. Of course, these guys have very little memory of that era, if any. It was interesting to see how they related to that time period.

I got back on the subway and made it home about 4. Now I'm just about ready to turn it. Tomorrow is the first day of classes and I want to go over my lesson plans one more time.