Day 2: Underground tour and Museum of Cold War

Breakfast spread

The best way to face the still wintry Moscow morning was the breakfast buffet which featured some Russian fares such as buckwheat porridge, blinis (pancake with sour cream) and white fish in oil.

Blinis

Underground tour

Finally, we met our tour guide and the tour started with a visit to the various decorations of the different Metro stations. All the stations were huge and deep and some were decorated like a palace. It was really a view to behold. Due to bombings in 2010, there were security guards placed at the ends of the escalators. However, our tour guide warned us that there may be pickpockets (which reminded me of Spain and Greece). One interesting point was that the Metro tickets are a single standard flat fee of about 20 plus rubles and allow one to travel anywhere on the Metro network. Importantly, try to avoid the rush hours as the crowd really pushed their way in and out of the carriages. Poor G was pushed out of the tube a stop before our destination. It was pure hilarity, especially at one point in time when I was sitting on somebody to balance myself through the ride.

Museum of Cold War

Next, we visited the Museum of Cold War. Used to be a bunker, the museum was covered with thick walls which protected against bomb blasts and radiation. With a depth at 18 floors deep, the tunnels were below that of water pools and Metro lines. The museum's guide brought us about the place, showing us videos and artifacts from that period. At one point of time while we were walking along a tunnel, a bomb blast was simulated and we were shrouded in darkness with the occasional red lights. In all, it was quite an experience in the interactive museum.

Red square

With some times left before the half day schedule was over, we went to the red square which housed the Kremlin, St Basil Cathedral and other important monuments. Since we will be visiting the square again on another day, we decided to stay away from the cold and settle our dinner at some ala cart restaurant which served some Russian dishes which I was too afraid to sample.