In the heart of Moscow, overlooking the Kremlin and the world-famous Red Square, sits the grand Baltschug Kempinski Moscow Hotel. Part of a gracious 19th-century architectural ensemble, its historic façade dates to 1898. Built at the end of the 15th century, the Kremlin is the legacy of Ivan the Great. It is within the Kremlin walls that the history of Russia was shaped, from the dictatorship of Ivan the Terrible to the most notorious of Russia`s leaders, Stalin, who issued his genocide commands from said walls. In more recent times, President Brezhnev came to be unfairly known as the ruler who allowed Russia to fall decades behind the West.

Within the Kremlin stands the five-domed Archangel Michael Cathedral. Its interior is dominated by sarcophagi containing the remains of practically every Russian tsar up to Peter the Great. The tomb of Ivan the Terrible rests behind the iconostasis, as do the ashes of his murdered heir Dimitry.

Moscow is a modern, thriving city, with the youth hankering after every possible designer label. The city`s largest department store is situated on Red Square. Though called GUM, Russian for State Department Store, there`s no sign of the former USSR`s spartan tendencies.