Do or Die!!

Having mustered up the energy to go to Red Square and attend my friend Zhenya’s performance I really truly believed that jet lag was on its last leg, no pun intended! No way was I going to succumb to another day of jet lag…………that was…..until I did!! And this time it was even worse. Instead of losing just a few hours here and there I spent the entire day in my hotel room sleeping! The day ended like the rest of them with a dish of beef stroganoff from room service. After the third day of beef stroganoff and sleep I was not only sick of stroganoff but also was sick of wasting my time sleeping!! I had to conquer jet lag!

The next day was “do or die” in my opinion. Either do something other than sleeping or I’d start to feel like the trip was all for naught! Luckily I did get myself together and got out the door first thing in the morning. The weather was a touch warmer, by no means balmy but it felt just a tad bit more doable. My first stop would be back to Red Square. As I entered Red Square I noticed a long line as you enter the square. It looked as if they were in line to see the only full time inhabitant of Red Square…..the man himself……..the father of the Soviet Union, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin!!! After looking around Red Square a bit more I decided it’d been too long since I’d seen dear father Lenin, so I jumped in the queue and slowly inched toward security. Unlike in the old days when you had to buy tickets at the History Museum

History Museum

(the big burgundy red building that sits opposite of St. Basil’s) and check your bags and cameras, there was no such process anymore. However, that did not exactly mean you were free to take pics of old Vlad himself.

After passing through security I got the chance to look around the Kremlin wall where the remains of Soviet heroes and others are placed. One of the remains in this garden includes the first man in space, Yuri Gagarin. A short walk later I’d come to the tomb. As we entered they made sure everyone understood there was no photography with signs everywhere saying this was not allowed. Once in I descended several sets of marble stairs into a very dark, cold and barely lit large room where Lenin laid. Several guards stood by making sure nobody said a word or do something like sneak a shot of Lenin himself.

Lenin's Tomb

I slowly moved toward Lenin and walked up a few stairs to get a look at him from the side and the front. Unlike in previous visits where they didn’t let you stand around for longer than 3 seconds, this time they seemed to allow people to take their time looking. From what I could see Lenin looked pretty good for being nearly 100! He looked just like I had remembered him………a wax figure. There are rumors that the real Lenin was buried long ago and that this is just a wax. Seemed pretty legit to me. Whatever the truth may be I don’t know if we’ll ever really know. Interestingly enough Lenin requested not to be kept like this but to be buried next to his mother. I guess Soviet bureaucrats had other ideas. 

Having looked over Lenin, it was time to walk around the Kremlin burial grounds a bit more and see the statues and plaques devoted to the remains of other Soviet heroes and Soviet leaders. Amongst the most well known leaders buried in the garden is Uncle Joe aka Josef Stalin. Stalin much to the dismay of many others, and myself seems to be making a comeback in Russian society. Who the hell cares he killed millions and imprisoned countless others, after all industrialization comes with a price and furthermore he won the war, so goes the philosophy of those who see him as a hero. Stalin used to lie next to Lenin until Khrushchev started his campaign of de-Stalinization and ordered him buried. My grandfather actually got to see Stalin back in the 50s when he visited Russia. Oh how I wished I could’ve also seen Stalin!

Speaking of heroes and controversial figures, there’s a new fight brewing these days over another man by the name of Vladimir, no we’re not talking about Vladimir Lenin, nor are we talking about Vladimir Putin (although he does sort of come into the equation), but St. Vladimir. St. Vladimir was the ruler of Kievan Rus (the mother to the modern Russian state) and is credited as being the one who introduced orthodoxy to Russia. 

To Ukraine St. Vladimir they feel belongs to them and not Russia, hence Kiev in the name Kievan Rus. They even have their own St. Vladimir statue in Kiev built in the 19^th century. So when Russia unveiled its own statue, Ukraine saw it as a provocative gesture. For those not keeping track ever since the Maidan Revolution in Ukraine several years ago that saw a Kremlin friendly president overthrown in favor of a western friendly figure, Russia has been in a conflict with Ukraine which includes the annexation of Crimea and two provinces of Ukraine, Donetsk and Lugansk, who declared themselves independent of Ukraine and aligned themselves with Russia. This move is sure to cause even more friction between the two nemeses. It’s also been said that the statue in a way is a monument to the modern day Vlad, Vladimir Putin.

The statue sits right next to the Kremlin and is towering! Many say it is ugly, but I found it to be ok and nothing that horrible. But I can understand peoples’ concerns when schools are crap, roads are crumbling, wages are stagnant and many other problems that plague Russia! Plus, it just reinforces the Russian government’s close, close alliance with the ultra conservative wing of the Russian Orthodox Church.

My next stop on my walk around Moscow would be The Kremlin. Although there are a few museums on The Kremlin grounds, including the world famous Armory I much prefer to simply be outdoors and walk around than stuck in a museum. I feel embarrassed writing this, but I haven’t been in The Armory since I was a freshman in high school and here I’m a Russian language and lit major, plus a lover of Russian culture. Oh well one of these days….at least that’s what I keep telling myself.

The Kremlin churches

The Kremlin grounds were fabulous, it never gets old being inside looking at The Kremlin itself, the different churches and beautiful grounds. And as an added bonus, Putin just opened up a brand new pathway through The Kremlin that allows visitors to exit via The Savior Tower (Spasskaya Bashnya). Only a few months ago this was impossible and used to be the main exit for government officials in Soviet days. Back then you used to see black Ladas speeding out of The Kremlin onto Red Square. Now all you see is wide eyed tourists looking around amazed by the beauty of The Kremlin.

Later that night I would take my dearest friend Vanda out to dinner. I was quite excited for our date as I was presenting her with a special gift, a bracelet from Tiffany’s. A few months earlier she had asked me to buy the bracelet for her offering to pay me back for the purchase. But as luck would have it she had an unexpected cost come up (don’t we all) and she had told me not to bother. I felt bad for her as she said it was her dream to have the bracelet. So being the nice guy I am and to show a little bit of love toward her I bought her the bracelet.

I was heartbroken back in October when I had to cancel my trip and was unable to give her the bracelet. But it was well worth the wait when I presented it to her and saw her light up like a child who had just gotten their most desired present on Christmas day! She was so shocked and told me she couldn’t take it. But I insisted and eventually I convinced her that she deserved it and that I wanted her to have it. Hell….I was not going to leave the restaurant and for that matter Russia without her taking the bracelet!

We eventually finished up our dinner, a kind of pizza like meal from the nation of Georgia without the sauce and with cheese stuffed inside called Hachapuri. Soooo delicious! After several days of spinning my wheels like a 2 wheel drive car stuck in a blizzard, I finally felt like I was back on track and making some traction!