Rolling, rolling, rolling on the river...

What better way to take advantage of a beautiful, summer Saturday in Moscow than by cruising slowly along the Moskva river and taking in the sights?  That is what I thought to myself as I dragged my sorry you-know-what to the gym at 8AM.  A good workout and the obligatory Starbucks later I found myself home and bugging Mr. Unmentionable to get up and get going.

http://radisson-cruise.ru/index_en.php?page=18

Starting point -One of Stalin's "Seven Sisters", now a Radisson hotel.

A short walk (thankfully) through the alley, across the street and down the stairs brought us to the embarkation point for the river cruise.  For the low sum of руб 800 each (again, you do the math) we were able to secure two second floor seats on the stern of a river cruiser.  This afforded us beautiful and unobstructed views on either side.

Two beer, a vanilla cocktail and 2 1/2 hours later, we witnessed some of the most beautiful sights that Moscow has to behold.  Below is a small sample of what we saw.  I even pulled out my crayons for a few of the pictures (you know how much of a penchant I have for B&W images). 

As you well know, pictures never truly do justice to the real thing.  Please enjoy; we sure did.

Tourist enjoying the view from our starting point.

British Embassy

The "White House"

Another of the Seven Sisters -The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (recognize the "Jy-Janteek Kol-Yooms" in the foreground?)

Moscow State University housed in yet another of The Sisters

Luzhniki Stadium

Note the details on the building -leftover from the Soviet era

Monument to Peter I -this caused great controversy

Domes of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour

Kremlin

St Basil's Cathedral

The Big "Sister"

my idea of Soviet era architecture/housing

Cathedral of Christ the Saviour

The "beautiful" people (I couldn't help myself...they looked so bored with life).