Part 14: RUSSIA

Vanzilla 2.0 was over in Moscow, Russia.

Nicole: Here we are guys. Welcome to Moscow, the Capital City of Russia.

Lori: It's so big.

Naruto: I had no idea that Moscow was this huge.

Lola: But doesn't Russia hate us now?

Me: They do but alot of people from around the world travel here on business and more.

Natilee: Actually they don't hate us they just don't like us.

Varie: There's so much to do here in Russia. It's one of the most beautiful countries in the world.

Sakura: And it's the largest country in area.

Lincoln: That's right Sakura. It's the largest country in area but not population.

Fu: So what are we gonna do here first?

Nicole: We're going to Saint Basil's Cathedral.

We stopped at Saint Basil's Cathedral and it was a beautiful church and one of Russia's most beautiful landmarks.

Lola: This church is amazing.

Laney: It's one of my favorite buildings in the world and it's very beautiful.

Linka: It's my favorite too.

We went inside it and it was so breath taking. It was home to some of the most beautiful pictures we had ever seen and is considered one of the most beautiful and most artistic churches in the world.

Lori: This is literally beautiful.

Leni: Totes. These paintings are amazing!

Luna: They are amazing. What is the history behind them?

Jessie K: Saint Basil's Cathedral was built back in 1561 and these paintings were all made back in the late 17th century.

Lana: It's all amazing. The architecture on this place is incredible.

Anastasia: It's just like I remember it. We were here when we were hiding right Lori?

Lori: We sure were Anastasia.

Hinata: This is all magnificent.

Nicole: We've only begun to scratch the surface of Russia.

Later we were over in the Catherine Palace.

Me: The Catherine Palace. One of the most beautiful places in all of Russia.

Jessie K.: Wow! It was the house of Catherine II of Russia A.K.A. Catherine the Great, Russia's longest ruling female leader. She ruled from July 1762 to November 1796. She came into power when a powerful revolt overthrew her husband Peter III of Russia. She made Russia grow and get stronger and Catherine the Great was recognised as one of the great powers of Europe.

Lola: That's amazing.

Lucy: It is.

Lisa: That's a powerful achievement for her.

We go into the Catherine Palace and we saw an amazing sight. The statues on the walls were made of solid gold and the beauty of the decor in the palace was incredible. The dining room and the ballroom and more all had solid gold on the walls and the chandeliers were made of waterford crystal.

There was room made of solid amber and there was a room where the pillars are made of solid malachite. There was a statue of Catherine the Great and it was amazing.

Me: This is all so beautiful.

Naruto: It sure is big brother.

Luan: These statues are all solid gold. This is sure Golden! (Laughs to Rimshot) Get it?

We all laugh.

Me: (Laughs) That was a good one Luan.

Varie: (Laughs) That was funny.

Raven: (Laughs) Golden. I just got it.

Eddy: (Laughs) That was funny Luan.

We went into the Amber Room and it was amazing.

Nicole: Wow. This room is all made with Solid Amber.

Leni: Is my friend Amber here in this room?

Lisa: No Leni. Amber is actually tree sap that's been fossilized.

Nicole: That's right Leni. This is Amber.

Nicole holds up a piece of Amber with a spider preserved in it.

Leni: Is that a spider in it?

Nicole: That's right Leni. Amber can have insects and stuff trapped inside it. Tree sap can trap insects in it and after millions of years it can become fossilized. That's what amber is. It's fossilized tree sap.

Leni: That is totes strange.

Laney: Like that mosquito that was preserved in Amber in the movie "Jurassic Park."

Nicole: Exactly.

Lisa: Even if it was possible we don't have the genetic technology to bring the dinosaurs back to life.

Me: That would be something though. But if we did bring the dinosaurs back to life we would be in really big trouble.

Lana: How J.D.?

Me: The dinosaurs would replace us as the dominent species of our planet.

Lucy: That would be terrible.

Luna: Dude. That would be scary.

Lynn: It would.

We went into the room of Malachite and it was a beautiful sight.

Lana: This room is amazing.

Me: The pillars in this room are made of Malachite.

Naruto: They are beautiful.

Lola: Malachite is a beautiful mineral.

Lisa: That's right. Copper Carbonate Hydroxide; Street name: Malachite is one of the most popular minerals in the world. It's much cheaper in class and color compared to Berylium Aluminum Silicate; Street name: Colombian Emerald.

Nicole: That's right Lisa. Emeralds can be priced at $1,000.00 to $5,500,000.00

Everyone: WOW!

Me: That's a lot of money.

Lola: That is a lot of money.

Fu: It has to be one of the most expensive minerals in the world.

Nicole: It is. But Tanzanite is the most expensive and the most rarest.

Later we were at a crater.

Lincoln: What's this spot Nicole?

Nicole: This is the sight of the Chelyabinsk Meteor Airburst.

Lori: I saw that on the news and that was literally intense.

Nicole: Yeah.

Jessie K: I'll never forget that. On February 13th, 2013 a meteor 20 meters in diameter and weighing in at 14,000 tons came into the atmosphere at 43,000 miles per hour as a bright fireball that's brighter than the Sun and it exploded 97,000 feet over this very spot in Chelyabinsk, Russia. It exploded with the power of 56 Hiroshima Atomic Bombs and the shockwave from the explosion was so powerful that it blew out all the windows in the buildings and injured hundreds of people. Some of the injuries were bad enough for them to seek medical attention.

Sakura: That's awful.

Fu: Unbelievable.

Naruto: The one in Dallas hit with the power of 200 Atomic bombs.

Cody: I saw that on a newspaper and that was horrifying.

Kate: Were you here in Chelyabinsk when the meteor came in 4 years ago J.D.?

Me: Yes Kate. I was here back then.

I roll up my sleeve and show my right arm.

Me: Look.

I had cut wound scars and what looked like stab wound scars all over my right elbow.

Everyone gasped.

Linka: Geez. How did you get those?

Me: A window exploded out from the shockwave of the meteor explosion and shards of glass flew into my right eldow. Luckily they missed my face. They had to surgically remove all the shards of glass from my arm and I had to have a lot of stitches.

Lynn Sr.: Ouch.

Rita: Ooh. That must've hurt.

Luna: Have they ever recovered the main meteor from this sight?

Me: They did. I saw it on the internet. Let me show you.

We went to Chelyabinsk museum and we saw a huge fragment of the meteor.

Me: This is a fragment of the meteor.

Lynn: Boy that thing is huge.

Lily: How heavy is that?

Me: It weighs 1,000 pounds. The whole meteor weighed 28 Million Pounds.

Lola: And how big was the size of the meteor that crashed into Dallas?

Me: That one was the size of a 5 story Apartment Complex and it weighed 240 million pounds.

Nicole: And it slammed into Dallas with the force of 200 Atomic Bombs.

Luan: That was awful. But this meteor would be just a small pebble compared to Dallas.

Lisa: That's a good comparison Luan.

Zoe: That is unbelievable.

Hercules: Yeah.

Cody: This is all so incredible.

Our stomachs growled.

Me: Lets go get some grub.

We went to a local restaurant in Moscow and had a feast of all the good foods of Russia.

Me: Mmm. The Borscht is as good as I remember it.

I was having a bowl of borscht - Russian Cold Beet Soup, and a Pirozhki.

Lori: The Borscht is really good.

Leni: Totes.

Lucy: The кровянка or Russian Blood Sausage is really good.

Lola: I like the Pirozhkis and they are delicious.

Lana: They are tasty.

Laney: It's really good food.

Later we went to another sight in Russia in the middle of the forest. It was the sight of Tunguska.

Lincoln: What's this sight?

Me: This is the sight of the famous Tunguska Explosion.

Jessie K: Oh I remember this. On June 30th, 1908 an asteroid exploded over this spot with the power of 15 Megatons of TNT and it flattened all the plants and trees here.

Nicole: That's right.

Lori: Russia has literally had alot of incidents involving asteroids and meteors over the years hasn't it?

Nicole: That it has Lori. But North America has had more asteroid and meteor impacts than any other continent on the planet over the course of lifes 600 million year history.

Terra: That is so strange.

Starfire: It sure is.

Me: That's incredible. It's hard to imagine that Earth has been through so much over the course of it's 4.6 Billion Year history.

Vince: Yeah no kidding.

Aylene: It's amazing.

We saw all sorts of interesting things and more and went to our next destination.

Continues in Part 15