I'm afraid I have no photos of Moscow for you. By this time I was just enjoying being there. My friend took photos and I have access to them but I don't think I should use her photos here. Our first view of Moscow was, of course, from the boat. First we came across residential apartments. We had a bus tour around the city during the day. All along the whole holiday we had included trips with the price of the holiday and optional trips. This first night in Moscow an optional trip on the Metro was planned, which would take place in the late evening, getting back to the boat at midnight. I like my bed and at first decided to have a night in. I have to be careful that I get enough sleep or I can get mood swings. However later in the day someone in the party dropped out of the trip and I was asked again if I would like to go. I am so glad I said "Yes." It was a bit daunting going to the Metro as we were told the escalators could be much faster than we were used to. Our guide told us to spread out along the platform and not queue in a line and to step straight onto the train in whichever door opened in front of us. Also he would indicate how many stops before we got out with his fingers. This was a little alarming to a country bumpkin like me but everything went smoothly. The purpose of all this was to see the amazing palaces that form the Metro. Some were beautifully decorated with stained glass panes, some with mosaic pictures depicting the achievements of the soviet era. There were pictures of people in national costume. The was one military scene including General Kutosov who defeated Napoleon. There were chandeliers. All was bright and clean and there was no damage to the pictures. Someone asked why this was the case and our guide, Sergei said,"Why would people damage it, it belongs to them. You wouldn't damage your own living room." There was a great sense that people took pride in their country.
I have written in previous posts about disasters. In the case of Concorde, decisions by people, plus other factors were directly to blame for the event. In the case of the Penlee disaster it may have been avoided if someone had made a better choice in the time beforehand and as a consequence brave men and the ship's crew and the captain and his family died. 9/11 was certainly the result of wicked men committing a terrorist act, but even in this there was heroism notably by another Cornish man, Rick Rescorla who helped many to safety and left it too late to help himself. In situations like this we see what the human spirit is capable of both good and evil. What of disasters that come on people because of the earth restless movement of tectonic plates. Often people live near volcanoes because the land is rich and fertile and they have the chance of a better life there when the volcano is resting. We cannot blame them for that but sometimes people become complacent...
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