"Over the February half term a group of history and politics students found themselves venturing through Moscow and St. Petersburg's streets and buildings, gaining a sense of Russia's rich artistic heritage and and - at times - dark, turbulent past. As the plane came in to land in Moscow, all around was a flat white landscape dispersed with forests. Exiting into the cold outdoors we realised how far we'd travelled. We met our tour guide at the airport - a friendly character who sang us a Russian lullaby one evening on the coach.
Driving into Moscow, there was silence as people looked out onto huge industrial buildings and housing blocks; already the Russian architecture was becoming apparent. There were also many small yet quaint looking ‘dachas’, to where where we were told Muscovites escape in the summer when the city becomes too busy. There are lots of enormous monuments too, celebrating events and triumphs. Opposite our hotel there is a sculpture and park dedicated to the first cosmonauts - unsurprisingly our hotel is called 'Cosmos'.
On our first day we ventured into Moscow's centre where we visited Red Square with its famous and colourful St. Basil’s Cathedral. At the Kremlin, wandering near the walls, we passed many fur-wearing Russians as well as The Eternal Flame remembering the fallen in World War Two. Inside the Kremlin we were led around the Armoury, full of grand objects - reminders of the huge wealth of the monarchy. We saw the political buildings that are used today, with, ironically, the largest cannon in the world facing them. We later visited the sculpture park, Christ the Saviour’s Cathedral and sampled urban life by taking a Metro tour (the Metro, like many things in Russia, is a commemoration of Socialism filled with social-realist artwork). Moscow by night was like a fairytale; the feeling epitomised by a visit to the frozen swan lake which had once inspired Tchaikovsky.
We then took a night train to St. Petersburg, which although not as romantic as Anna Karenina, was still exciting and surprisingly easy to sleep on! Being so close to the Arctic Circle, St. Petersburg is dark in the morning but because of the Neva River and grand palaces either side, it is in some respects similar to Venice and Paris. St. Petersburg is arguably the more beautiful city with its colourful architecture and Winter Palace. We visited the Hermitage which has one of the world’s largest collections of art and artefacts including works by Da Vinci and Monet. We also saw the former home and office of Sergei Kirov and the museum of the siege of Leningrad. One evening we went to a Russian folk show, where we watched traditional dancing and where one of our students was ‘lucky’ enough to be called up on stage to dance!
On the final day there was enough time to see one last Cathedral, where all the tombs of the Romanovs are housed and we listened to the Lord's prayer sung by monks. We left the city and went into the surrounding countryside to the Summer Palace at Pushkin. The rooms here are decadent and have been restored to their former glory after the Nazi takeover had left them bare. Then it was home to England, with Russia still in our heads after what was an enjoyable six day trip!"
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