To whom it may concern: For the Communist Tour on Saturday, July 14, 2018 at 11:00, I encountered Ms. Tanya Newman at the St. Regis Hotel. In her initial explanation, Ms. Newman went to explain Moscow, Russian history including the monarchy, the late 19th, early 20th century, Russian revolution, Lenin, Stalin, the Soviet Union era, and the post Communist era. It was an impressive number of facts that still have an impact in Russia and around the world today. After my history lesson, Ms. Newman went to describe Lubyanskaya building and square with photographs and details. She described the history of the KGB, the statues honoring its prominent figures, the KGB's modus operandi, the number of victims, the old secrets and the lack of transparency until this day. Ms. Newman indicated that the Solovetsky Stone was one of the few monuments dedicated to the victims. After Lubyanskaya building and square, we proceeded to Red Square and entered the Lenin Mausoleum before it closed.

Will be interesting for those people who would like to know a bit more on the communist history from the point of view of the local. I always wanted to see the Lenin's mausoleum and with Vladimir as a guide, it was great experience! I was not so impressed by Worker and the Farmer statue but I like the metro station, which looked like a museum, and Vladimir told me nice stories about it. I would recommend it for sure!

Many of the places we wanted to visit were covered by the pass, so had been paid for in advance. It was good not to have to queue. The guide proved to be invaluable, being a handy size to carry with us throughout our holiday. Mentioning Tram 7 from Kievskaya Metro Station to Sparrow Hills would be helpful, to avoid a long and confusing walk, since there are insufficient signposts in Moscow.

Natalia our guide met us @ 9am in the foyer of our Hotel on our first morning in Moscow. This was a great way to get our bearings, see some iconic Moscow & be guided on how to use the Metro. She was tuned in to what we wanted & developed a lovely rapport. I would recommend such a tour to any independent traveller

I realised my ambition visiting Moscow and certainly the tour was the icing on the cake A relaxed tour with so much to see with Tanya explaining everything Every question which was asked she answered with so much information It was as if we had all known her for years Don’t miss this tour !!!