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Several other photos of note before we leave Moscow . Lubyanka . Former home of the KGB ( Now the FSB ) was and is still a prison . It was said that you can see Siberia from the roof of this building . Uncle Joe in all his glory . His daughter moved to , married and lived in the USA . His wife wasn't so lucky . She " Committed suicide " . And the founder of Moscow , a Prince from Kiev , Ukraine .

Returning to Moscow we will finish our tour of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior . We walked out on the bridge crossing the Moscow River for a better view . The view of the Kremlin and the church inside of the Kremlin There were thousands of people inside and coming out and in the Cathedral when we went inside . I believe that the rebuilt church could hold 9,000 people standing up for hours for worship . It was going on and so we could look but not photograph . The first church was looted and demolished by Stalin in December of 1931 . Soviet leader Joseph Stalin chose the prominent site of the cathedral as the proposed site for a monument to socialism known as the Palace of the Soviets. It was to have modernistic, buttressed tiers to support a gigantic statue of Lenin perched on top of a dome with his arm raised in the air. Photo and text from Wikipedia The building was never built because Germany attacked Russia . After the war and with Gorbachev 's Perestroika ( Restructuring ) the Cathedral was rebuilt with funds raised from over a million citizens ( Including a large donation by Mc Donald's ) . It only took 6 years to rebuild instead the of 40 for the first one . The construction of the pool on a site of the destroyed cultural heritage caused a negative reaction of the Moscow public. The history of the site's Cathedral, the unbuilt Palace of the Soviets, and the Moskva Pool was commonly summarized with the ironic expression "First there was a church, then rubbish, and now shame" (Russian: Сперва был храм, потом — хлам, а теперь — срам., romanized: Sperva byl khram, potom – khlam, a teper' – sram.) The new interior dome . Photo and previous text Wikipedia

After our visit to Moscow we took the Metro to an pretty church in Saint Petersburg called Chesme . https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chesme_Church As we were there we saw a group of children from the public school being bussed to the church for a field trip . Can you imagine that happening in our public schools ? The graves behind it were decorated for Victory Day . Inside of the church was a service with the priest sprinkling incense in front of the icons . In my Bible reading this morning it says about Israel , " But the more they were called , the more they went away from me . They sacrificed to the Baals and burned incense to images . " Is this a violation of the second commandment ? “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

Our favorite church in Moscow is the Cathedral of Christ the Savior The original church was build to honor Christ the Savior by Alexander I "to signify Our gratitude to Divine Providence for saving Russia from the doom that overshadowed Her" when attacked by Napoleon in 1812 . The current church is the second to stand on this site. The authentic church, built during the 19th century, took more than 40 years to build, and was the scene of the 1882 world premiere of the 1812 Overture by Tchiakovsky . Wikipedia

We surfaced and began a walking tour with the building on the 100 Ruble note - the Bolshoi Ballet Theatre founded in 1776 , the year of of the USS's independence . Bolshoi means big or large and the note is worth 1 US Dollar . We loved the way that the fountain in the front formed a water curtain . https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolshoi_Ballet Visiting here reminded me of a song from when i was in High School called Pretty Ballerina by the Left Banke.

The last station that we visited was Belorusskaya a station with panels in the ceiling that pictured everyday peaceful life in the USSR . It's in the last panel that we see ( or don't see that counts ) . Originally there was a picture of Uncle Joe Stalin that was removed under the de - Stalinization program of removing him from history . De-Stalinization (Russian: десталинизация, romanized: destalinizatsiya) comprised a series of political reforms in the Soviet Union after the death of long-time leader Joseph Stalin in 1953, and the thaw brought about by ascension of Nikita Khrushchev to power,[1] and his 1956 secret speech "On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences", which denounced Stalin's cult of personality and the Stalinist political system. Monuments to Stalin were removed, his name was removed from places, buildings, and the state anthem, and his body was removed from the Lenin Mausoleum (from 1953 to 1961 known as Lenin and Stalin Mausoleum) and buried. Wikipedia The last mosaic known as “Embroiderers,” originally included a portrait of Stalin, but during the de-Stalinization period it was replaced with the Order of the Red Banner of Labor (hammer and sickle). The large mosaic in the previous station suffered a similar fate when the image of Stalin was replaced by a dove of Peace .

At this end end the station was a mosaic that says "Peace Throughout the World." It is the Novoslobodskaya Station . Looking back from the train platform and waiting for a train at the platform

We went down in the Metro at Ploshchad Revolyutsii ( Revolution Square ) . Rubbing this dogs nose is said to bring good luck and that's why it is discolored . The last photo is Lyudimila Mykhailivna Pavlichenko (12 July 1916 – 10 October 1974 was a Soviet sniper. She shot German soldiers in World War 2. She was one of the top military snipers of all time, and is credited with 309 kills.[1] She was the most successful female sniper in history. Wikipedia She toured the US during WW II to try to convince us to open a second front from the West against Germany before D-day .

Our next stop was the Moscow Armory to see it's collection of Fabege Eggs . There was a long line to get in and our guide could not go with us past the book shop . We found the Eggs and took a photo until we were told no photos . We did buy a book at the book shop so we took photos from the book and found a video on line .

Our guide had promised us a special changing of the guard but we must first enter the Kremlin in the rain . Notice that we are wearing our Russian camouflage , i.e. Black . Behind this photo of the Calvary you can see the Tzar Cannon which has the largest caliber bombards in the world . https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsar_Cannon The Tzar Bell is the largest Bell in the world . https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsar_Bell

The fountains of the Alexander Gardens Near our hotel was the Four Seasons Hotel ( was the Hotel Moskva formerly ) is on the label of Stolichnaya Vodka .

20 min to the port is great . We're 75 to Ft. Lauderdale . We are doing better with Pat and we caught the Rocky the Racoon . We were trying to meet you guys in Tampa but our Thanksgiving with the family begins on that day . We did the Canal both ways so if you might like some tips on most of the places we may be able to help if you would like . Here's the East to West review :

We had some free time before meeting our guide so we went for a quick walk across the street . There is a 3 story mall beneath these domes across from hotel called Okhotniy Ryad . The center dome has a map of the world when seen from the mall underground . Not my video

After popping up I was near the State Historical Museum and the Resurrection Gate that leads to Red Square . Red Square wasn't open yet But the Kazan Cathedral was https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kazan_Cathedral,_Moscow Returning to the Hotel for breakfast

I was awake before my wife and breakfast and took my camera for a walk . I found a colorful underpass to cross the busy street to Red Square under the street . The State Historical Museum and the Resurrection Gate that leads to Red Square