A Great Day Outside

I must say that even though our apartment building is a bit on the sketchy side, its location is wonderful! We have spent most of the day today exploring outside, and got to see some great sights! We first walked down Novy (new) Arbat Street. This street is lined with restaurants, shops, and casinos. Ken and I enjoyed walking it, as it had many bright lights and was very entertaining.

About 1.5 - 2 miles down Novy Arbat Street is Red Square. We were quite impressed that our apartment is so close to Red Square! There were looooong lines to actually get into the part where you can see St. Basil's close up, but since we've already been there, we were happy just to walk and sit around the gardens surrounding the square. We spent a lot of time people watching, and trying to pick out the Americans who have just adopted. We saw at least one couple.

We left Red Square and went back up Novy Arbat to eat at TGIFriday's! Yep, this was our first meal in Russia last trip, so we were excited to go back there and have a familiar lunch. It was great! After lunch, we went to Old Arbat Street, a street that runs parallel to Novy Arbat. Old Arbat Street is a long pedestrian street aligned with many shops and restaurants. It's very touristy, and very busy, but it was nice to be a part of. Ken could not talk me into buying a black q-tip hat, which I've been saying that I wanted. However, we did buy an artisan-made apron for Angelina. We also had some yummy ice cream, and I've spotted two starbucks on Old Arbat, so I think I'll help myself to a coffee tomorrow morning!

So, it was a good Saturday here in Moscow, we are starting to get excited as the day after tomorrow, we will get to see our daughter!

Here are some pictures of our day:

Adrian in a flower garden outside of the Kremlin.

The changing of the guard at the tomb of the unknown.

Ken posing with a lion.

A beautiful gold-domed church.

A far-away view of St. Basils.

Giant clowns on Old Arbat Street.

Angelina's apron