John Bickerstaff

A wet and dreary morning revealed a more realistic climate for a city on a similar latitude to the dreary city of Manchester. Such weather required an indoor plan. Perfect for the Museum of Cosmonautics at the VDNKh park - a sort of Russia / Communism theme park throw back to the 70's that still seemingly engenders a sense of pride in the locals. Managed to get to the metro relatively dryly - almost certainly got a few strange looks because of the shorts - or maybe just the habitual Moscow sour face. Indoors is all well and good but getting to the indoors involves the outdoors. Got a bit damp getting to the museum - not looking good for the rest of the site. The museum proved to be interesting but not quite as informative as it could have been - inconsistent English. Again what was strange was some bits equal billing, others clearly very abbreviated & others none existent. Annoying but understandable I guess. Photos outside were hampered by wind, rain, wonky eyes & the threat of falling slabs of granite. It would seem that such a prestigious monument is not getting the care it requires. Such a shame. Pushed onto the Space Pavillion in the main site, which has a Soyuz rocket outside but by now hunger was an issue, as well as shelter. All food options seemed to be stalls outside - not good. Outside - bad, inside - good. Found a soviet style canteen, which was interesting - no clues at all. Couldn't go wrong with kebabs & had some rice & veg which had a cursory warm in the microwave. Feet by now were soaking but made it to the space pavillion & had the bonus of free entry - god knows why - sympathy because of the bad weather or distracting the youth from protests - who knows. Spectacularly organised & presented artefacts. Loads of stuff about the moon missions, planetary missions & other assorted trivia. Better English options meant a lengthy stay - by the end Liz's patience was being tested. Back the way we came via some photo ops with the rocket. Very wet by time we got to the hotel.Read more