Happy Birthday to David!  He woke up in Vienna and he's about to go to sleep in Moscow.  

We were up bright and early this morning because we had reserved a taxi at 7:00 to take us to the airport.  We hated leaving Vienna but were looking forward to meeting up with our friends, Mark and Jim, in Moscow.  Jim lived in St. Petersburg, Russia years ago and speaks Russian, so when he offered to plan this trip for the four of us we got onboard immediately.  

The flight from Vienna was about two hours and 15 minutes.  We got through Passport Control and Customs with no delay and when we walked out of customs Jim and Mark were waiting for us. 

We took a train from the airport to the Metro station and then took the Metro to a station very close to our hotel.  In the picture below, that is Jim with David.  

When we first glimpsed the hotel I could not believe how beautiful it is!  And it is enormous.  Unfortunately I did not take a picture of the outside of the hotel, but maybe I'll get one before we leave.

We are staying at the Hotel Metropol which is a stately, traditional hotel, built in 1905.  It is known for it's impeccable service and I cannot say enough about how well we are being treated.  All of the hotel staff speaks English which makes things very easy for us.  Here are a few pictures of the lobby decorated for Christmas.  Let me say that I would love to live in this hotel!

We were checked in quickly and easily, and another employee showed us to our room and when we got there, our luggage was already in the room.  Also, when we checked in, the clerk noted that it was David's birthday.  The manager who was standing nearby asked if we would mind if she sent a gift for him up to our room.  Of course we said no!  A few minutes later there was a knock on the door and this was delivered along with a very nice note.

Of course we immediately invited Jim and Mark to our room to share it and we had to pose!

After that we headed out to see Red Square at night!  The weather was cloudy and rainy but it was still an unbelievable thing to do.  We saw the Kremlin, Saint Basil's Cathedral, the Alexander Garden and Gum's Department Store.  

This is the diplomatic entrance to the Kremlin. 

Gum's Department Store was known as the State Company Store during Soviet Times.  The store extends 794 sq. ft. along the eastern side of Red Square.  The entire building is lined in white lights and it looks enormous and grand.  Sorry, again I did not get a picture.

When we were walking around Red Square, there were people dressed in beautiful costumes who would have their pictures taken with you.  For money, of course.  But it was fun.  That is Mark below.

After a few hours of walking around Red Square we decided we were cold and needed to eat and go back to our hotel.  We ate at a nice Italian restaurant.  I had caesar salad and David had mushroom soup and then we shared a pizza.  Excellent dinner!

We then walked back to our hotel and parted ways with Jim and Mark after making plans to meet them at 7:30 the next morning for breakfast.

We have a guide tomorrow so we should see some very interesting sites!