MOSCOW, RUSSIA

Russia is definitely a country I've never thought I would go to. Fortunately, I was so wrong! 

Moscow was so much fun, OMG what an amazing architecture that city has. One gorgeous building after the other. 

The people are unbelievably nice (not everyone speaks English, thank God my hubby speaks Russian) and very welcoming!

Forget about everything bad you might have read about Russia, just get a visa (only downside of Russia, extremely difficult and most expensive visa we've EVER needed) and hop on that plane. 

One of the things that I liked the most about Moscow was the fact that EVERYTHING is walking distance from the city center so, choose a strategicly located hotel (like we did) and enjoy the beauty of the city (and their low currency compared to the US Dollar).

Red Square 

The "Red Square" is located in the heart of Moscow at the city center and you can't get enough of it. There's everything you'll need there (the "airport" security to get in an out though is a little annoying but the safer the better). 

The impressive master piece of architecture known as "Saint Basil's Cathedral" is one of the most beautiful buildings I've ever seen, inside and out. Many people believe it to be a castle but, no, it's a church. Although nowadays it works more like a museum (there are no masses being held there anymore).

Saint Basil's Cathedral

We went over the holidays and I was quite surprised by the weather, I expected it to be a whole lot colder (normal NYC winter weather). I absolutely loved that we had flurries once so, we spent the whole day going from one museum to the other. Our favorites were "State Historical Museum", "Kremlin Armoury", "Moscow Museum of Modern Art", we also loved the "Tretyakov Gallery" and the "Bolshoi Theatre". 

The "Kremlin" is a huge complex so definitely take a full day to go there. Arrive early to get tickets and also make sure the President isn't having anything there that day because it will close. There are quite a few museums inside as well as gorgeous churches. It's definitely a must once you're in Moscow!

GUM

"GUM" is considered a department store in Moscow (main department store of the former Soviet Union) but, to me is just an awesome mall. There are stores for all kinds of "tastes" not mentioning the food and snacks carts all over the mall. 

Russia is definitely one of the countries that surprised me in a great way, I can't wait to get back to explore a different part of the country.