Catching up - our last night in Moscow

On our last evening, we took the Metro from the station near the hotel into the city centre, to walk to Red Square. It was an interesting walk, 20 minutes longer than planned as our leader managed to head the wrong way from the Metro station. We were fortunate to be rescued by a Muscovite who spoke good English and guided us back on to our route. We came through past St Basil’s to Red Square to marvel at the Christmas-like decorations of the GUM shopping centre.

After taking in the sights and having some refreshment we went round to Revolution Square Metro station admiring the statues of Lenin and the ordinary revolutionaries of 1917. Two changes of line brought us round to Komsomolskaya Station with some of the most impressive decorations of the Metro, built to honour the young people of the Komsomol, or Youth organisation of the Communist Party, who had helped build the Metro, along with slave labour from Stalin’s purges. Then it was a quick journey back to the hotel.