I saw Lenin up close and almost personal!

July 22, 2007

I did the one thing that I've always wanted to do. Three years ago we went directly to Red Square and it was closed. It seems it takes at least a month to clean Red Square and get it ready for the big celebration for May 9th: Victory Day over the Fascists at the end of the Great Patriotic War. But today, even after an hour and half wait in a line of a thousand tourists, I got to see V.I. Lenin lying in state in his tomb, mausoleum. More on this later!

This morning we bussed to Red Square and waited in line to see Lenin. We gave all of our cameras and pocket paraphenalia to Nadia as we headed for the metal detectors. I went through the metal detector without incident. As I walked towards the mausoleum, there were Russian guards every 10 meters or so. On the stairs, the light of day faded and the black steps were difficult to see where you were stepping. An elderly lady was unsure of herself. Several of us stopped to help her. As we tried to talk, we were shushed by each of the guards even when we still tried to help the woman. As we entered the mausoleum, I had my hands in my pockets. A guard quickly motioned me to take my hands out of my pockets. No funny moves allowed in here! We were not allowed to stay and observe. We were encouraged to keep moving as we tried to get a good look at the preserved Soviet leader. Maybe I got to spend 20 seconds in the mausoleum itself. I was very quickly outside walking behind the tomb, looking at the busts of many former leaders of the Soviet Union, including Stalin, Brezhnev, and Frunzen whose statue had stood near the center of Vladimir. As long as we had waited, the rush of sights and observations in and around Lenin's Tomb were over in what seemed to be an instant!

We then toured the famous St. Basil's Cathedral. Amazingly enough, it is not one big space inside, but 13-15 smaller 'chapels,' each one under one of the domes of the cathedral. It was a labyrinth inside that was mainly set up as a museum, not a working church.

We were then bussed to the Old Arbat and the Hard Rock Cafe, tourist trap #1, but a good stop for more Christmas presents: Hard Rock t-shirts from Moscow are pretty cool! A small group of ours walked the Arbat, stopped for dinner. I had a chicken/veggie pizza and Coke Light. This meal was actually reasonable. I was surprised to be able to order so much food for so little in Moscow! We metroed to the Ismalovo Flea Market. I shopped and found everything that I had been interested in a few days before.

Our last evening in Moscow took us the CIRCUS. This circus is a privately owned circus, owned by the son of a famous clown and film star of the Soviet Union. There is a state owned circus that is having privatization issues. The circus we saw was wonderful! High trapeze, tumblers, clowns, dogs, and tigers to close! We had our last dinner together at a nice restaurant. I toasted my fellow Fulbrighters. All of them are great teachers, great travelers, and great people!! It was late farewell dinner. Ron gave us Soviet pins and banners, and, of course, questionairres to fill out.

Pack, sleep!