Best: Activity
A night of ballet at the Bolshoi Theater.  

Though we ended up being a little overdressed (apparently the ballet isn’t the uber formal event it used to be), we had a fantastic time seeing La Bayaderi.  

The main theater was being renovated so we were in the small theater, but it was still a beautiful venue.  

Only having been to one or two ballets in my life, some of the customs and nuances were a little over my head – like the six (yes, six) encores.

Best: Walk
The grounds of the Kremlin.

Wandering in and out of museums and seemingly countless churches (I didn’t even know there were any churches inside the walls), past administrative buildings and through “Secret” gardens made the Kremlin my favorite walk in Moscow.

Best: Exhibit
St. Ivan’s Bell Tower inside the Kremlin was hands-down the best exhibit thus far in Russia.  

We were provided with a headset for an audio tour (in English!) for free and all artifacts had descriptions in Russian and English (most exhibits have been exclusively in Russian).  

Plus the view from the top of the tower was spectacular.

Best: Unexpected Find
We had walked by a large, stained glass, half circle of the world several times and could not figure out what it was. 

Finally, we discovered that it was a clock that rotated to provide the time for any given place in the world.  

It was brilliant! And also served as a skylight for an underground mall.

Best: Awkward Moment
To enter the Kremlin, we had to go through a metal detector and security checkpoint.  

There was a turnstile in front of each metal detector and naturally mine didn’t work properly.  The guard kept pushing the button and I kept pushing on the gate, but it wouldn’t budge.  Finally it opened and I went through the metal detector while the guard searched my bag.  Then he began talking to me in Russian.  

Not understanding a word of what he was saying, I just smiled and nodded, at which point he became very serious, raised his voice and asked in perfect English “ Weapons? Knives?”  F. “Oh, no, no no,” I replied.  He re-searched my bag with conviction before letting me move on.  Good job Kelly.

Best: Place to People Watch
Old Arbat Street was filled with artists and musicians and seemed to have constant activity.  

It was lined with cheesy souvenir shops employing tall African men (novelties themselves) to direct tourists into the shops.  

There was even a woman offering the opportunity to take photos with her snowsuit clad monkey (for a fee of course).  

Best: Monument
The Kremlin used to be surrounded by a moat and now a complex of fountains and streams filled with sculptures pays homage to the moat that defended it in years past.