Contrary to Saint-Petersburg, we didn’t have big expectations for Moscow, and were in for a nice surprise. Not sure what we expected, but it felt to us like a very European and international city, and even though the streets don’t immediately charm the tourist, there is lots to see.

Starting with the obvious Red Square – somehow wherever you go in the city, it seems that you end up here. But it’s a good thing, as the square looks different at every time of day and weather. One of the most impressive buildings is actually the GUM department store, a real maze of beautiful boutiques just in front of the Kremlin.

We also went inside the Kremlin (Kremlin means “fortress inside a city” or citadel. Russia has many Kremlins but Moscow is the best known), and unexpectedly we saw churches rather than government buildings. The Kremlin is the official residence of Russia’s president, but i guess they wouldn’t let us visit his house…

We got particularly inspired by the iconic Saint Basil’s cathedral that looks like a big candy, as well as by all the incredible photo poses that the Russians take in front of it. The results of our little photo session are below, with our models in the background whenever possible.

Oh, and in case you were wondering what the Candy Church looks like inside – it’s actually surprising because there is no large open space, only little galleries that connect all the different chapels (one per candy dome).

There are many more things to do in Moscow, and in 6 days we didn’t have time for everything. We had lunch at the beautiful Cafe Pushkin with its library, visited the excellent Tretyakov gallery for more Russian paintings, walked in the Gorki park (the place to be on a sunny Saturday), and went further out to see the beautiful and calm Novodevichy convent.