Tashkent to Moscow was also on Aeroflot. I did not have a guided tour of this city but had some time to wander the streets and record two standard tourist images.
A familiar vista in Moscow. This is the apartment building that is one of Stalin’s Seven Sisters, a group of seven tall buildings. There is no connection in the name to the seven sisters identified as the major players in the oil cartel in that same era. It’s only the attraction of prime numbers and alliteration.
I suppose it is appropriate that a government recognizing only the material realm should preserve the material remains of its founders and display them for its pilgrims.
Moscow to London was by rail and channel ferry. Highlight of the rail trip was being hoisted along with the carriage to be placed on a new set of wheels to accommodate the different rail gauge at the Polish border. Sound like a bad Polish joke? Poland will never be invaded from the east by railway.