Moscow, Russia - day 1 and 2

Tomas, the guy from Chili, was staying at a different hostel in Moscow so we parted ways at the train station and I found my own way to my hostel. On my walk there that morning (Tuesday, 8 August) from the train station I spotted a person ahead of me: backpack on, guidebook/bible in hand, walking from the train station in a 'suburb' of Moscow at 7 am in the morning down the street I knew my hostel was on could mean only one thing. It had to be another backpacker going to my hostel, so I chatted her up and we found the hostel together (although only after passing because we were distracted from talking). After waiting over 2 hours to check in at the hostel, Jacelyn (from New York), and I decided to explore the city together. We walked by an outdoor photo exhibit (similar to the one I saw in Copenhagen) and I had a good time trying out my Cyrillic diphering on her as she knew a bit of Russian. Then we took the metro to the heart of Moscow: the Kremlin. It was too late in the day and the lines to long to see the Kremlin then, so we walked around the outside of the Kremlin and through Red Square. At one end of Red Square it the famos St. Basil's Cathedral and Lenin's Tomb, although we went in neither. It was a beautiful, warm summer day and not the typical drab weather that Moscow and Red Square are usually protrayed as in movies. It was pretty neat although different and/or smaller than I was expecting. The low point of the day, actually of the last several days, was our lunch. We went into this nice, new underground shopping mall to find internet access. We walked through the food court and decided to have lunch there. It was hard to understand the menu and costs, so when I paid I ended up with a $12 portion of lasagna and a $5 order of fries. To add insult to injury, the lasagna was not that great, the fries were cold, we had plastic silverware and plastic plates. I must say that is the first time I've spent $17 on a meal in a mall food court! It was just another one of those 'wastes of money' that I hate. We ended up hanging out in a coffee shop for an hour or so too because we were both tried from the short nights' sleep and early start. Then we followed a little walking tour by some churches before working our way back to the hostel, stopping at the store along the way. The hostel here is the biggest rip off so far. At $33 it costs the same as my hostel in London, and it doesn't demand the price. But there are few options in Moscow. Moscow is really expensive and overpriced. But I slept well enough that night. On Wednesday (9 August) I woke up early to beat the crowds that form in front of the Kremlin. The Kremlin itself was not what I was expecting and I was a little dissappointed after all the hype it gets. There just wasn't much to see inside the walls of the Kremlin except a bunch of churhes and government buildings. I think the views of the Kremlin from outside the walls are better than anything inside the walls. Better still was what I saw afterwards, the massive Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. This cathedral is really underated and I ran into it by accident. After leaving the Kremlin area I saw this cathedral down the river and thought I'd walk over to it. Wow, am I glad I did as it is probably the highlight of Moscow for me now. It is one of the most beautiful cathedrals I've ever seen. The outside is stunning and the inside is even better, and the admission was free! After that I took a long walk along the Moscow River before grabbing lunch and eating in park outside the Kremlin walls. It has been sprinkly lightly all day which I hate because the clouds make my picture bland. Oh well.