Moscow, RUSSIA

UPDATED: Sunday July 10th, Moscow (See update below in Red)
After 8 hours on the train from St. Petersburg, I arrived safely in Moscow. Nice train and a very interesting ride under the White Night skies. As we drove past small villages, the heavy evening mist covered the valleys under the bright night skies. A very beautiful sight.

Did the Red Square and Kremlin this morning...and saw the famous St. Basil's Cathedral...and a lot of walking. The Moscow people did a rally this afternoon in support of their bid for the 2012 Olympic Games ...thousands of people with waving flags and banners congregated next to the Red Square. Police and the army are present everywhere but seems pretty harmless to me...nice "next door guys"...and not the fierce looking soldiers we would expect.

Will see Lenin's embalmed body tomorrow...and a lot of other interesting sites. Tonight at 19h00 I am seeing an Operetta at the Bolshoi Theatre. Till later

Sunday July 10th
Today is my last day in Moscow as I am leaving this evening on a 14 hour train journey to Tallinn, Estonia for 2 days...and then Helsinki, Finland for 2 days....and then across the waters to Montreal, Canada.
Couple of interesting impressions about Moscow:

1. Very very interesting subway (Metro) stations which are very old ...and the trains are just as old...but a very extensive network. Probably the longest escalators I have ever seen...or maybe some in St. Petersburg were longer. At the top and bottom of esculators are an attendant box...not sure why...probably to report bad beviour on the longggg ride...or to report people who fainted.
2. Crazy motor cyclists but those one-wheelers in St. P. take the cake!!
3. The zoo is pathetic...overcrowed with people and animals in small cages. Could be worse though.
4. Like St. Petersburg....many people are walking with a bottle of beer in the hand...and empty beer bottles can be seen on the streets in many places...guess hobos are not paid to return empty bottles
5. Police and security are everywhere...I guess 50% of the population is employed by either the army, police or some kind of security. I feel like I am being watched all the time...probably good so I'll stay safe. Nobody has yet checked my "papers"...which are the documents I always have to keep with me...like my passport, police registration papers, and my visa papers. Someone tried a scam with me yesterday by dropping a big roll of US dollars in front of me on the ground... I know the old trick and kept walking.
6.No real sign of poverty. People seem to live a very decent life. Lots of big black cars (Mercedes, BMW, etc) driving around the elite. There are some beggers but certainly a lot less than in places like New York and San Fran.
7. Lots of beautiful people!!!
8. About 5 HUGE buildings like the Empire State building scattered around this city of 10 million people
9. People dont seem to be as Cool and Relaxed as those in St. Petersburg. The latter also has a lot more local tourists (from Russia). FEW westerners!!
10. Seeing the dead body of Lenin was good....no better man than a DEAD Communist!
11. Lots to see in Moscow...which I truly enjoyed...did Gorky Park too.

Ok...I need to go and pack my stuff and get my train to Estonia. Cheers