Heidi Santos told us about her recent trip to Russia, via a river cruise ship. She
explained that Red Square is a city square in Moscow, Russia. It separates the
Kremlin, the former royal citadel and now the official residence of the President
of Russia, from a historic merchant quarter known as Kitai-gorod. Red Square is
often considered the central square of Moscow since Moscow's major streets,
which connect to Russia's major highways, originate from the square. On the
southern end, is the nine-towered Cathedral of St. Basil the Blessed (originally
Church of the Intercession), built 1554–60 to commemorate the defeat of the
Tatars (Mongols) of Kazan and Astrakhan by Ivan IV (the Terrible). The spires on the cathedral resemble ames and all the colors have meanings.
Some interesting facts: Moscow is a city of 12 million people and it has 5 airports. The roads are always filled with traffic and one needs to go through toll booths that only accept exact change. If the car in front of you does not have exact change, everyone needs to back up so the car can turn around. It was noticed by Heidi that most of the Russian people do not smile so she asked why. Because, if you are seen walking around with a smile on you face, people would think you were a little crazy. Moscow is extremely clean and trash cans are forbidden because that can encourage trash. Anyone caught littering is fined $300. Public restrooms have doors that only cover the bottom half of the person sitting on the “throne”. Makes conversing with the person across the way much easier. There are 600 churches in Moscow and 100 different nationalities.