The final two days in Moscow were more relaxed than the previous days. Majority of the sights had been visited and if we were to leave that at very point we would have been satisfied. However, what trip is complete with a visit to the local flea market. On day 4 of Moscow, we headed to the Izmailovsky Market. This market, situated is the Izmaylovo district (45 mins away by car), was the biggest flea market in Moscow. It was said to not only have an abundance of souvenirs, it sold items from the Soviet era. And the market did not fail to live up to expectations. There were Soviet era banners, clothes, posters, knifes, weapons and so on. There were things so unexpected that we were shocked, such as a fully intact machine gun (that looked outdated of course). Personally, i wanted to go home with a Samovar (a traditional Russian boiling pot). However, they were made far too heavy and far to expensive. They usually cost in the tens of thousands of roubles. So sadly i had to settle for other souvenirs such as the well-known Russian dolls. If there was one thing that stood out here, it would have to be the Russian Dolls. There were so many, in so many sizes, in so many designs and in so many colours. It was pretty tough to pick one shop to purchase the doll from, but after two hours we had narrowed down and picked our shop. We all bought a few ( i bought 2) and they were absolutely gorgeous. It was a shame that i could not afford some of the more intricate ones that had more pieces (one reason to visit Moscow again 😀 ). After the Market, we quickly returned home as we were exhausted from the shopping.
The next day (our last in Moscow), was to visit the Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics. It was the museum dedicated to the Russian achievements in outer space. Despite the fact we were late (had to secure bags in left luggage) and that it was free admission, we only had to endure one-hour wait to enter. The Museum itself was pretty stunning and deceptively huge. Outside, there was a tall monument that only could be described with the word, Majestic (just like the space accomplishments were). Inside, we saw countless artefacts that started from the beginning of the project till the current day. We saw a model of Sputnik 1, the vessel that brought Laika (first dog in space) into space, inside of a model of a spacecraft. There was also interactive features such as allowing visitors to have a small glimpse into what it was like to wear astronaut gloves and operate in space by screwing bolts and using carabiners. It was quite a long exhibit that i was grateful to visit. After the museum, we headed to the bar from the previous night to relax and wait for sundown. Slightly after 8, we walked to the Red Square for on last visit and also to see it at night. It was quite wonderful, eating the awesome ice-cream from GUM (shopping mall) and standing in the middle of an empty Red Square to admire the sights at night. When it was time to go, none of us really wanted to leave. It was tough to say goodbye to such a sight. Eventually tho, we had to leave for our train. Train was really nice, smaller than our 29 Hour train but significantly cleaner and better equipped. And thus, it was time for a new adventure in St Petersburg.

















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