Day 2 Dead communists

So the first full day of the next 11 months started badly with me being unable to find anywhere to buy butter (crisis I know). I also made the school boy error of going out without layers and layers of clothes on when on my search.

Half an hour into this I gave up and returned with my tail between my legs to the hostel, this was all good though as I then met a couple of cool people one of which, Uri an Israeli, appears later in my tale...

So now looking like the Michelin man I wondered off towards Red Square to be a tourist for the day. First stop St Basil Cathedral, which was spectacular from the outside. Inside it was a mixed bag with some of the chapels fully restored and amazing but some work in progress...

Next up I bumped into Uri (see how I worked that) and went along to see Lenin's Mausoleum. It was certainly a surreal experience with much shushing and marshalling from the Russian Military Guards. When actually seeing Lenin for the first time all I could think of was Jeremy Bentham's auto-icon at UCL which I'm sure was not the effect they were aiming to achieve...

Later I am going to attempt to find somewhere to watch the England game. Not holding out much hope though

Three things I've learned today.

1. Cheep trainer/boots from TKmax are not waterproof or indeed even damp proof.

2. Moscow is cold!!!

3. Knowledge of the Cyrillic alphabet is vital for navigating Russia

Laters!!