Russia is not amongst the favorite holiday destinations, due to various reasons like cost, political situation etc and so having 100 odd Indians reaching Moscow was an unusual site both for the local Russians and for the immigration people who had multiple questions before they were satisfied.

I was one of the 100 hundred odd and the only one accompanied by my little two year old daughter and wife. Having the little one was both fun and drama which kept the entire battalion busy with her mood changes coupled with lighter moments.

Coming back to Moscow, we landed on the morning of 2^nd May, which was a public holiday in Russia, apparently this entire week was a holiday and so almost 60% of the city population had gone outside Moscow leaving city more deserted than usual. Further adding to our anxiety was our sweet lady guide who gave us such an introduction of Moscow starting from what not to speak, where not to go,  what not to do and so on…….not really giving us any positive vibes about the city.

We all were sitting in the bus transferring from Airport to hotel and this lady guide talked through the journey about Moscow covering almost all topics from Russian girls, their marriage preference, population distribution, political situations, city drunk hooligans etc with one thing common that all were accompanied with caution message leaving all of us feared and perplexed as to where have we landed.

However keeping our anxieties aside we visited various monuments during our two day stay in Moscow, which exposed us to one of the finest collections of art and culture.

I would like to share my experience of one of most fascinating place and that is the Great Kremlin. There are two reasons for me covering this place, one being that it’s the richest treasury of historical reliquees containing architectural monuments of XIV-XX centuries.

Another reason being closer to my heart and that is the surprise air show of Russian Air force. While we were about to enter the Kremlin, we heard guzzling sound of helicopters, fighter planes, jets flying all over our head with beautiful formations. The show went for almost 30 minutes with different plane formations flying one after the other, with 1-2 minutes of gap.

This entire show left us with a very nostalgic feeling, especially when you see the MIGs and Sukhoi’s, which are an integral part of Indian Air force and we all have seen them on television on 26^th January and 15^th August parades.

This experience has left all of us excited, and lifted our spirits which were quite shattered post the introductory message.

The city we landed this very morning was not the same anymore. Our hearts were filled with love and affection for Russia and the people here, we spend the remaining two days happily meeting people, visiting places, eating out and the fact that we all 100 add men are safe back in India further strengthens our love with Russia that has been going on from  times of Jawahar Lal Nehru and Raj Kapoor.