Moscow

Moscow sits on the banks of Moscow River. The city is a conglomerate of gray stone apartments, theaters, restaurants, hotels, parks and shops, including Gum, the city's multi-leveled department store. Its centerpiece is the Kremlin, originally a brick-walled fortress and now a complex of churches, government buildings and palaces, such as the 16th-century cathedral of St. Basil and the Lenin Mausoleum. Aside the buildings sits the Red Square, the site of parades, rallies and demonstrations.

Getting around the city by public transit is quite convenient. The Moscow Metro is comfortable and the stations are clean and decorative. Few people own cars, however, the streets are crowded with dark cumbersome automobiles mostly reserved for government employees.