As a traveller there can be few greater thrills than standing in the middle of Red Square in central Moscow, the glittering domes of St. Basil’s Cathedral at one end, Lenin’s Mausoleum nearby and the massive walls of the Kremlin as a backdrop.  It is an awe-inspiring, if not slightly chilling experience, the reward greater for having arrived here as part of a long overland journey.  Julie and I shook our heads in amazement, enjoying the moment and planned to spend the whole day in this area.

The two day journey from St Petersburg to Moscow was a game of two halves.  On the one part there was an old four lane highway, clogged with trucks and bogged down by constant unexplained speed limit changes…or perhaps no speed limit at all.  The road strung together a number of small towns and gave us a brief glimpse of life in rural Russia.  It was amazing but not pretty.

On the other part, we climbed on to a spectacular new motorway with high tolls, no traffic and absolutely nothing to view on either side other than the thick boreal and pine forest that covered the land.  For this section of the journey we did not see a single home, person or any evidence of human life in either direction.  It was a little spooky to be honest.  Because of the tolls this was a road less taken and for long stretches Tramp had no competition or companionship at all.  Almost 400 km of arrow-straight bland lifeless road, unexciting but at least efficient at dropping us off on the outer ring road of the bustling Moscow metropolis.

Moscow is home to more than 13 million people, the largest on the European continent, and is the centre of the universe when people think of Russia.  The nation’s capital, the power-centre for all things Russia, both domestically and internationally, including the culture, history, politics, economy and science centre of the nation. And throughout the megapolis, thousands of high-rise complexes to house the millions of people who call it home.  Moscow is said to have been spruced up a bit over recent years and slowly shaking its Soviet cement-block architecture style that proliferated in the Stalin era.  We saw some evidence of this transformation but the city still looked largely drab and grey.

And as it happens, I’ve been here before.  In 1978, when I was a young lad exploring the world I joined a camping tour through eastern Europe that included many stops in the USSR, as it was called back then.  At that time Brezhnev was the Soviet leader and there was a deep bitter cold war and arms race between the super powers.   To be honest, the country looked awful back then, crumbling, lethargic, repressive, ugly, secretive and depressing.  But what a fantastic history and political lesson it provided a young inquisitive mind!  And here I was again, standing in Red Square forty years later, gazing at the wonder of it all, memories flooding back, older, greyer and perhaps a little wiser.

The centrepiece of Red Square is undoubtedly St. Basil’s Cathedral.  After seeing it for the first time all those years ago I described it as the most memorable building I’d ever seen.  It’s unique beauty, colourful onion-domes and perfect setting just outside the walls of the Kremlin made a lasting impression on me and after forty years the first sight of it lived up to all my expectations.

But this time, unlike last time, we were able to go inside and explore the many little chapels, which they call churches, that are at the base of each of the major domes as well as the larger church in the middle.  Built in the 16^th century and like many ancient buildings, enduring additions, modifications, damage, repairs and restorations, St. Basils still rocks like few others.

The huge elegant building opposite the massive Kremlin walls on the other side of Red Square is Gum Department Store.  Forty years ago this was a huge drab building with narrow dark corridors displaying items for sale through screens (no touching the goods).  Buyers receive a docket that is taken to the cashier sitting behind another fortified screen before returning to collect your goods.  It was a serious example of the Soviet lack of trust (or respect) of their people, the grimness of their life and inefficiencies of their economy.

But today….OMG, Gum Department Store is a spectacular multi-level shopping centre with the best international brands, light, breezy, flowers, music, just exactly as you might expect in any major city of the world.   The transformation from then to now was a shock to my memory and a clear indication of how incredibly far this country has progressed from those dark and horrible cold war years.

We treated ourselves to lunch in a café on Red Square (Julie had the very Russian borsch while I had the ‘dumplings with meat’) and then headed to the State Historical Museum which is at the other end of Red Square.  Here the history of Russia is laid out in 36 dazzling rooms from prehistoric cave man times all the way up to the 1880’s (after which time things got a little messy).  It was a severe dose in Russiamania but the Tsarist era was particularly interesting.

We took in many other sites near by but eventually made our way via the efficient if rather drab metro and local bus to our campsite and reunited with Tramp who had enjoyed the day off.  Moscow had delivered the goods on our first day, not quite as shiny and buzzy as St. Petersburg, but still good.  We couldn’t help but look at all the normal-looking people and remind ourselves that this is a highly controlled society without the basic freedoms that the rest of us all take for granted.  It was a little disconcerting at times and as they say, a nice place to visit but….

If you had to name one building that filled most westerners with awe, trepidation, concern and even fear it would be the Kremlin.  Formerly the royal citadel, today home to the Russian government behind huge medieval walls in the middle of Moscow, the Kremlin is the Russian equivalent to the White House and for the eastern socialist world this is where it happens.  And we spent a full day inside.

When I came to Moscow in 1978 the Kremlin was strictly off limits and not even the wildest imagination would see a group of young western tourists wandering around its grounds all day.  Today that’s exactly what thousands and thousands of tourists do every day, like us they battle horrendous queues to buy different tickets and survive the security screens.  After two hours of this hot and somewhat stressful queuing, pushing and shoving, getting pushed and shoved, we walked along the ancient ramparts, through the arch and inside the sacred walls of the Kremlin.  Along with dozens of Chinese tour groups and thousands of other people.

In addition to the Senate where the Russian government meets and numerous other huge official government buildings the Kremlin hosts five extraordinary churches dating back as far as the 14^th century and together they represent one of the most extensive collections of eastern orthodox icons, paintings and other religious relics from their glorious past.  But to see them of course you have to stand in numerous long queues, get pushed around by Russian tourists and Russian officials, and once you get inside it is so crowded its hard to appreciate and fully absorb the magnificent settings you are in.

We gazed upon the wondrous painted walls of each church, sometimes viewing icons, crosses, chalices and other religious items that were 700 years old, and shook our heads in wonder.  You don’t have to be an admirer of Russia today to be an admirer of their colourful history and the preservation of those memories.

We also bought tickets for the Armoury which proved to be much more than just an armoury.  Inside this museum they housed an extensive…did I say extensive?…collection of religious items, jewellery, gold and silver pieces of untold variety, weapons and armour (yes, the armoury!), clothing for the royals and elite, fabulous carriages to carry them around, and just about everything in between.  The highlight was probably the ten Faberge eggs that were on display, exquisite beauty personified.  Somewhere through the thousands of items on display you slowly move from being dazzled to being dazed but it was a memorable, if not completely exhausting, experience none the same.

Julie and I limped back to camp via the metro and local bus system, experts at it by now, and glowed all evening at our extraordinary experience of a day in the Kremlin.  It was a unique experience in more ways than one and something we’ll always remember.