GUM ... Not the chewing kind

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This is a huge and very expensive department store in Moscow. It is right on Red Square. Inside once you get passed security you will see many small shops from all the poshest fashion brands. The place is on three levels and our first visit was to use the toilets which we had to pay several rubles to make use of but they were clean and worth paying for. We didn't buy anything at all except for food in two different restaurants within the complex. The food was Russian and as it was a buffet we could choose to try a few different small dishes and at reasonable prices. At night the entire place was lit up on the outside and looked stunning. Sadly St Basil's Cathedral was not lit when we were there at there was a big night time event which they had flood lights for instead. Inside the building we enjoyed taking photos of the painted tables and colourful bicycles that decorated the place. This shop is a Russian institution but I do wonder what it was like at the height of Communism when ordinary Russians struggled to even buy basic food.