Day 2 3/9/11 - Russia

Moscow

Highlight

• Had a very nice sleep. Off to breakfast, which had lots of variety, but the food itself didn’t taste great, especially the Western stuff
• Metro to the Kremlin, and straight away it started to rain.
• Got tix to Cathedral square and visited in turn: Cathedral of the Archangel, Annunciation, Deposition of the Robe, Assumption. All were impressive with their frescoes. There were lots of tourists though (on tours of course, especially the Asians) so it was very crowded all the time.
• The promised Parade did not materialise at 12 as it said on the website
• We finished quite early, so headed off to Red Square. They were rehearsing for the military tattoo so the sights were all blocked.
• Visited the Kazan Cathedral before heading to see the much more impressive St Basils. The inside is made up of a series of small churches.
• Toured around GUM shopping arcade with the designer shops.
• Off to walk the streets around Kitay Gorod with some fine buildings and several churches along Ulitsa varvarka and the old monastery of the Epiphany.
• Walked around theatre square including the famous Bolshoy Theatre with the ballet, several other theatres, the Hotel Metropole, and some shops.
• More metro rides to see the outside of the Puskin Museum of Fine Arts and the Cathedral of Christ the Redeemer, which was very large and mass was on at the time, so it was interesting.
• Brief walk around the garden around the Cathedral before off to the Metro again (and a long walk underground) to dinner.
• There was a wedding on, we didn’t know what was going on, and they didn’t give us any menus. The waiters were a bit offish and the chef was smoking at the table, but we had an excellent degustation of deconstructed Russian flavours, featuring lots of cod, caviar, beetroot, sour cream and truffle.
• It was expensive, £400 without any alcohol, but definitely a unique experience.

Food

• Hilton breakfast:
  • mushroom pancake
  • cream cheese fritter
  • tomatoes, grilled vegetables, noodles, sausage, bacon, mushrooms, hash brown
  • smoked salmon with dill, smoked white fish, herrings
  • cold cuts
  • cheese
  • banana cake
  • yoghurt with apricot
  • fresh fruit
• VARVARY by Anatoly Komm Summer 2011 menu:
  • “Original Russian Flavour”, Broccoli Cream with Cod Liver, Sea Buckthorn with Cottage Cheese and Herring Mousse with Sorrel
  • Baked Oyster – baked oyster, oyster leaf with lemon foam
  • Spring lawn - Egg covered with Spinach in Morels Snowdrift (sour cream snow) with White Truffle Sauce
  • Borsch with foie gras - Borscht with Foie Gras and veal, sour cream ball, bread puff + vodka
  • Ice-cream “Gazpacho” with Lobster Bisque and shiso leaf
  • Soup with langoustines and Squid essence, quail egg, cod roe
  • Dumplings with Kamchatka Crab and Sour Cream Snow and Herbs
  • Silver Cod with Peas and Beans, mussel sauce, mushrooms
  • Potato with Dill and Red Caviar, white truffle sauce
  • Veal on the Bone with Pepper Sauce and Crispy Roll (cigar) with Wild Mushrooms, carrot paprika sauce
  • Strawberry jelly, condensed milk, cake, strawberry foam
  • ”cake potato” - chocolate cake with alcohol and cream
  • dessert jars – granola and cream, strawberry and cream with green tea