Moscow - day 9 - best day yet

As predicted, the Brazilians slept until midnight and only then went out - that was too much for my English constitution and so I left them to it. I'm not sure what time they got in but they left for their flight to Prague before I had got up. They did leave me with a very sweet note "To, you are fabulous. We loved meeting you. Send us a message on facebook, love, The Brazilian Gays". Now, I'm pretty sure these bad boys were not gay. I can't wait to tell them what their message said.

Today was a wicked day. After I desweated in the shower, I set off to pick up my remaining train tickets from an office on the outskirts of Moscow. The metro was in order so I went up to the lady and asked for 4 tickets (need one ticket each way), she understood and even smiled at me! Got to the office, and the lady there was sooooo nice to me I almost cried "cuddle me" and curled up on her lap. Lovely, lovely, lovely. It makes such a difference when someone is nice to you. Afterwards, I strolled gaily along the road, birds singing, sun shining, Emma waving at the passing motorists (see below). You've got to love Moscow!

I changed some dollars, as the visa charges are hiking up, and made my way to a very exciting destination. Some of you may wonder why I'd visit such a place, others of you will be in no doubt of the reason. This is for the geeks.

Can you guess what it is yet? No? You sure? Come on........

COME ON....... well, it's the Cosmonautics Museum of course! How did you not get that? Look how awesome the monument is? amazing. So I decided this was a good bet for two reasons (1) because it's awesome and (2) because its only £2 to get in. However, when I got there, I was told if I wanted to take any pictures I would have to pay an extra £9. Devastated but refusing to pay, I went in. What I saw astounded me, and risking my LIFE (and I mean my entire life) I secretly captured something I know at least one person I know will love (no guessing who)! I knew when I saw this, if I didn't capture this image I would be letting myself and this individual down. Please take a moment before viewing to appreciate the risk I took to get this image to you, here today.

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. For those of you who do not know what it is you have just seen, these are the stuffed bodies of the two first dogs in space (say it with me" DDDDoooogggggsssss iiiiiinnnn sssspppaaaccceee"), Belka and Strelka. Don't ask me which one is which, for I cannot tell you. All was in Russian, and I was so excited at being soo bloody naughty I almost peed my pants. HAHAHAHAHA - yet again McPoops triumphs over the Russians! After the excitement died down, the museum was actually quite good and it was nice to get away to somewhere cheap and quiet (apart from the road). I bought an ice cream, and then a pie, and wandered in to this very odd place called the Russian Exhibition Centre. In Soviet times this was a place for the Russians to show off their wealth and capability. Now it's a place where Russians come to shop, go to the funfare, eat and drink - the exact opposite of what it was meant for. Weird.

To celebrate the success of the day, I bought 5 slices of watermelon for £3. It was so worth it. 

Tomorrow we're off to Kungur (arriving on 17th July), and to the well known Stalagmit Tourist Complex. It is unlikely that Stalagmit has something as up to date as the internet, so I will more than likely be back blogging in Yekaterinburg on the 19th. Ciao for now.