Today we have a project — to explore the Metro network and find some of the famous stations that have become known as Stalin's underground palaces. The Metro is the fifth-largest in the world, being 381 km long and having twelve lines and 223 stations. In 2017 the system-wide daily average was 6.99 million passengers, with a peak of 9.71 million recorded on 26 December 2014.
A diagram of just the central part of the Metro system
with the stations highlighted that are represented here
We visited about 15 of these stations during the day, and here are just some of them...
- Mayarkovskaya
Two of the 34 ceiling mosaics depicting
"24 Hours in the Land of the Soviets." - Teatralnaya
- Ploschad Revolyutsi
- Arbatskaya
- Slavyansky Bulvar
This newer station owes its design concept to the 'Art Nouveau' parts of the Paris Metro
We paused our quest here and left the Metro system to go out to the Okeania Shopping Mall, to explore and to get a bite of lunch.
Suzie found a small cupcake that would do for Warren's birthday cake!
- Park Pobedy
- Kievskaya
- Park Kultury
At the end of the station, on a massive marble wall, is a small bas-relief of Maxim Gorky, as the station was originally called "Park Kultury imeni Gorkogo" (Парк Культуры имени Горького).
- Taganskaya
- Komsomolskaya
We decided to call it a day here, and left to walk back to the hotel, pausing only in Children's World (Де́тский мир, Detsky Mir), a huge department store devoted to children, on Lubyanka Square. Suzie could have spent the rest of the day there, the proverbial child in a toyshop!
But we had to get home, as we were going to the Nikulin Circus tonight. Warren's birthday present!
We got home, rather tired after a full day, to find that the Hotel had realised it was Warren's birthday, and had left a little gift in the room. So, not to settle for one small cake (with candle), Warren had that and the fruit and custard tart left by the Hotel staff (with more candles!!) — not to mention the bottle of nice cold bubbly!
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