Vica and Vladimir were at our disposal so we took advantage of that. We first went back to the Avenue of the Cosmonauts and the obelisk to get some pictures of us with Uncle Yuri and Godfather Alexei. I had wanted to go to the nearby Exhibition Center to see the great fountains and a beautiful white Vostok rocket, but given the suggestion of it or Gorky Park Vica said that Gorky Park was the better of the two. The plan for the day then was to make a quick trip to see the statues followed by a drive to Gorky Park where we walked around and got some fresh air.
Our guy slept through most of the excursions, so there are not a lot of pictures of him. Sorry.
The day started off with the crawling game. Jason would crawl to the edge of the bed and one of us would drag him back. He liked it and it was fun for us to get acquainted that way. Plus, the floor was a little yucky -- 50 year old hardwoods -- so it was better for him to crawl on the bed.
Here's a guy during one of his waking moments outside. I just don't think he's used to being outside. Even since we've been home and we've taken outside only briefly. He's still getting used to it considering he never went outside for most of his life!!!!
A family shot with Alexei Leonov's statue.
Here's papa-Antoine and Simone with Auntie Valentina, the first woman in space.
A shot of the Obelisk. The Museum inside it was again closed. I wonder if it's semi-permanently closed??? I would have like to have gone inside, of course.
Here's a long distance shot of the entrance to the Exhibition Center. On top of the gates are a big statue of a worker and peasant joined together in socialist solidarity bla bla bla...
Some of these shots might be duplicated from our visit on the first trip, but there was no snow on this trip. These are the no snow shots. This was one side of the obelisk with a mural dedicated to the space race.
Close up showing Korolev, the Chief Designer, with the Vostok Sharik he designed and Lenin with a swastika on his head.
During the first visit I somehow didn't take a picture of the other side showing the other mural. Uncle Yuri leads the way in this way, taking the first step into the exploration of the cosmos.
Here's my boy and myself. These murals were BIG!!!!
Once we were done there it was on to Gorky Park. Gorky Park was nice. It was a very enjoyable walk. I would definitely still like to check out the Exhibition Center to see which one I prefer. I was expecting Gorky Park to be like Central Park or Golden Gate Park, but it was a little different than we expected. I am not saying I did not like it, just that I had a different expectation in my head. It was more like an amusement park with kids rides. Many were like what you'd find at a state fair or something like that. I was expecting more stuff for adults to see I guess. Kids older than Jason and Simone would have had a blast, that's for sure.Here's a map of the park if you ever decide to go.
Hammer and sickle on one of the pillars of the entrance. Note the year, 1955, Gorky Park is just over 50 years old!
This was the fountain just beyond the entrance and flowers that were shown in my original post on this subject. The pool around the fountain was an infinity pool.
After walking around for a while we came to the "banks" of the Moscow river. The next few pictures were all taken from the same spot. Not quite a panarama, but you can see the change in orientations. Here's a shot to my left of the river and a bridge. 
Directly across the river was this Soviet era building. It had hammer and sickles on it like our hotel. I am not sure what building this is or what purpose it serves now. Note the party boats.
And the view looking to my right. In the distance is the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. The Gorky Park shuttle is visible to the right. When we came to this spot the 4 other adults in our group first noticed the Cathedral. I came to this view first and what did I notice? The shuttle. No one else noticed it and some hard a hard time spotting it from this view. It was clear as could be to me! My brain is just wired differently.
And after a short walk, here's the Gorky Park shuttle. It was a test article used on the Soviet Space Shuttle program. Now it is some kind of ride. I didn't go inside, I believe it was closed. It is in relatively good shape despite sitting outside.The Soviet shuttle, named Buran (snowstorm) flew once in 1988. Budget problems killed the program. After the collapse of communism, money was pretty tight. The Buran was destroyed when the roof of it's hanger collapsed a few years ago. What a shame. In some ways the design was superior to the American shuttle but it's hard to say it was superior when it only flew once and ours has flown 114 times.
All in all it was a great day. The adults got out of the hotels, the weather was wonderful, the kids slept some, and the mothers got to go out on Mother's Day. You can't get any better than that.
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