For as long as I can remember, it has been my dream to visit Red Square in Moscow and gape at St. Basil’s Cathedral, the GUM shopping center, Lenin’s Mausoleum and the Kremlin wall.

Last week, my life-long dream was finally fulfilled, and I am still in disbelief. Every aspect of my journey to and from Moscow was incredible as well, and I would love to share with you my 4-day adventure to the capital of the Motherland!

CIEE arranged for us students to take the overnight train to Moscow to get the full experience (…coming back to Petersburg, we took the Sapsan – the fastest train connecting the two cities… only took 4 hours!). For someone who has never taken an overnight train before, I was so excited. My friends and I would peer excitedly out the window at all the dachas (Russian summer cabins) and trees until the sun went down… then we transitioned to watching Russian cartoons about travels to Outer Space. Before we remembered that we needed sleep, the train had arrived at the train station in Moscow! Immediately, after stepping off the platform, I knew I wasn’t in St. Petersburg anymore. The buildings differed from each other in height, and the sound of traffic seemed to overwhelmingly drone out everyone’s thoughts. The CIEE group then took a short bus tour from the station to our sweet Holiday Inn hotel and ate an incredible breakfast. Once hyped up on adrenaline and excessive amounts of coffee and blini (see?! sleeping on the overnight train wasn’t really necessary..), we made our way to the bus again for our 5-hour-long introductory tour of Moscow (we stopped for photo-ops, of course). The tour concluded with a stop at Red Square. After many group pictures, we were free to explore the area. The huge, high-end shopping mall, GUM, was a big hit with everyone because venders inside of GUM were handing out FREE ice-cream that day. It was coincidentally the absolute hottest day we have had in Russia. Is that fate or what?! (Though I must admit, I bought blini instead of waiting in the free-ice-cream line…)

After that packed first day, we were able to try to catch up on sleep so that we could go to Lenin’s Mausoleum early the next morning. My host mother told me that she went once when she was very young and warned me that it was very strange and she was very afraid. I did not know what to expect exactly, but it was an experience I am glad that I have had. It was surreal to see Vladimir Lenin in his own flesh… but it was definitely eerie. After seeing Lenin, I saw the graves of other influential political and historical figures in Russian history, including the grave of Joseph Stalin.

After the mausoleum, we watched the changing of the guards at the WW2 Eternal Fame Memorial, and then we received a tour of the Kremlin and the Armoury Museum (amazing, so beautiful and rich in history!) inside the Kremlin (Oh, Disclaimer: I didn’t get to see Putin at all, let alone on a bear).

My Moscow nights were spent wandering about the city with my native Russian friends, Liza and Masha. They were more than happy to show another CIEE participant, my friend Ericka, and I their favorite cafes, parks, gardens and streets. They took us out to eat at an old Soviet-style restaurant I would have otherwise never tried, told us stories behind detailed graffiti on less-populated streets, showed us churches with secret gardens behind them and explained the story behind the addition of McDonald’s to Moscow (people waited for days in the line for Mickey D’s… 24 years ago!).

From people-watching at Gorky Park to dancing in front of St. Basil’s Cathedral and walking through Lenin’s Mausoleum, I know that I made memories I will cherish for the rest of my life. I feel extremely blessed that I was able to experience Moscow through the eyes of locals; I learned that Moscow has a side that differs from her grandiose, magnificent and world-famous Kremlin. My only regret is that I could not be there longer… but I have more of St. Petersburg to study and explore!

Location: Moscow, Russia