At last, a walk that I desired in Moscow, and I hope I would have taken one more  before you read this. In the next few hours, I will be busy packing and ensuring that I do not leave anything behind, before I head to the airport, ready to leave this beautiful country with a heavy heart.

Before bidding goodbye, two administration ladies from the hostel have asked me if I could spend some time with them in the evening as they have a little souvenir for me. After staying in  ‘Hostel Nika City’ for almost 25 days, it is another connection that will bring smiles on our faces when we talk about the journey.

The initial plan for the day was to ‘Go Underground’ and discover the metro stations of Moscow, but by the time I finished work on Monday, it was almost evening, so I decided to ‘Go Underground’ on my last day and decided to walk on two famous streets on Moscow — Old Arbat Street and New Arbat Street. Each has its own charm. The Old Arbat is a stone street with souvenir shops and restaurants, dazzling with old-fashioned street lights. On the contrary, New Arbat is an ultra modern street with skyscrapers flanking the road. The ever-changing colours on those tall buildings add to the beauty of the street. One can just walk around, observing things, such as I saw a couple of portraits of Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan made by a local artist.

I decided to call it a day by extending my walk from New Arbat Street to Red Square, Nikolsky Street, two of the most crowded destinations in the heart of the city. The vibe was gone, Red Square was deserted and Nikolsky Street was far less crowded. 

A few Croatian fans were still singing, attracting crowds as they drowned themselves in beers, probably still trying to overcome the heartbreak of Sunday night.