Palaces

I have been fortunate to travel outside the country once more since moving to the states. When I was 16 my sister got married and we flew to Ukraine to celebrate. I hadn't been back since coming to Maine at four years old, so it was exciting to see the type of culture and lifestyle my family came from. It was quite a trip to see such a different environment, from the rusty Soviet cars to the industrial apartment complexes. 

We were in Odessa for nearly a month, but had planned a trip to Moscow half-way through our stay. We traveled by train that took 24 hours (yes, 24 hours) to arrive at our destination. Being on a rickety, and sometimes violently shaky, train was definitely not my idea of a good time. We crossed the border of Russia at some crazy hour in the morning and border patrol had to board the train and check all of our visas and passports. If you didn't already know, Russia is very particular about visas.

Eventually we arrived in Moscow and got settled into our hotel. One of the first sites we made our way to was the Red Square, there I got to see the picturesque St. Basil's Cathedral. And yes, it's just as beautiful up close as it is in photos! While we were in the Red Square we also checked out the Lenin Mausoleum, quite gruesome if you ask me. We weren't allowed to really linger and take in the view of Lenin's waxy corpse because the men armed with guns in each corner ushered us along. 

But then again, this was Russia.