Thursday, December 16, 2010

Shear Beauty...

Delay in blog action as this is week number 3 without Internet access in the apartment.  Really?  Really.  Cross-eyed with frustration but have decided to laugh about it as it is far better than the alternative.  Internet guys are coming tomorrow with new router...

This is in our front yard:


Christ the Savior Cathedral is literally right across from our apartment building and is one of the biggest attractions in Moscow.  Construction began in 1817 and took 45 years to build.   It took one day to blow it up - in 1931 Stalin ordered its destruction.  Some of the remains of the original cathedral can be found in several of the amazingly beautiful metro stations in Moscow (more on this in future blog).  In 1958, Khrushchev turned the grounds into the world's largest outdoor swimming pool.  After perestroika, a wooden cross appeared in the square by the pool, together with a box of donations.  Billions of rubles were collected and in 1995 the cathedral was rebuilt (completed in 1998).  It can hold more than 10,000 visitors at a time.

This is the foot bridge leading up to the Cathedral:


We walk across this bridge and around the cathedral to get to our metro station.  What I love most is hearing the faint sound of the cathedral bells in the morning.   Truly breathtaking...