One Day in Moscow

Arrive late in the evening in Moscow, an Alitalia flight from Milan Malpensa. We are here for work. There is still sleet on the ground and it is very cold. We stay in this beautiful 5-star hotel (the Hotel Mezhdunarodnaya) overlooking the Moskva River next to the Expocenter, the most majestic and immense lobby I have ever seen! The old and imposing clock located right on the ground floor strikes us immediately, it rests on a bed of fabric, as if suspended in time and in the void...

The next day, as rather hurried tourists, we opt for Red Square, all by metro. Personally I can't quite decipher the Cyrillic characters of the Russian language that identify the station names, but two colleagues are very skilled, so we head confidently into the underground of the city. It is here that you can admire splendid architectural monuments, paintings and sculptures with marbles, granites, lighting that make this metro one of the most original artistic heritages in the world.

We reach Red Square, a boundless expanse opens before our eyes, only a few groups of local tourists scattered here and there get lost like little ants... its name comes from the Russian word "krasnaya" which means both "red" and "beautiful"... the very colourful and picturesque St Basil's Cathedral forms its backdrop, sets it apart... built in 1556 by Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible to commemorate the victory over the Tatars and the conquest of new territories. A visit inside is a must to admire the artistic treasures it jealously guards. In front of the Cathedral stands the monument to the national heroes Kuzma Minin and Dmitry Pozharsky, who in 1612 drove the Polish invaders out of Moscow.

On the sides of the square rise the mighty walls of the Kremlin (from the Russian kreml, "fortress"), a fortified enclosure with a triangular plan, the institutional seat of the Russian government. Note the most famous monument of the Soviet period, built in brown granite, in the shape of a pyramid with steps, the Lenin Mausoleum.

Our cultural visit has unfortunately already come to an end....we are a bit numb with cold, we head back to the hotel.

On the way we notice that all the women, without exception, hold a bunch of flowers in their hands... tomorrow is a holiday here in Moscow, Women's Day is celebrated, every man gives flowers, it is "a very respected custom" the Russian women explain to us..."why isn't it like that in Italy?" they ask us curiously....