Saint Petersburg is Awakening

Today I made the sad realization that I only have three weeks left in this country, three weeks left in this strange, undefinable, marvelous, interesting country.  I always knew that it would go by fast, but I still cannot help but feel shocked at just how fast it is going.  Three weeks and I will be home in America, which is definitely not a bad thing, there are things to which I am looking forward, but I am just not ready yet to go back.  Right now, I am in a period of self-discovery.  I am finding both comfort and confidence in the Russian language in terms of reading, writing, listening, and especially speaking.  Speaking is one of the hardest aspects to grasp when learning a new language because so often you do not have access to the environment in which it is spoken.  It has taken me awhile to come to terms with my relationship with the Russian language.  In the past year, I began to worry that I had reached a plateau, that maybe my skills could not take me much further, and that scared me.  It took the kinds words of one of my cousins, conversations with friends and family, and self-reflection to realize just how wrong I was.  I am still learning and I am still growing and as long as I have the passion and the fervor, I will continue to do both.  Coming to Russia has certainly made me realize that I made the right choice when I entered college, and that is important; in fact, it is energizing.

Since arriving back from travel week, much has happened, and it is somewhat difficult to know where to begin.  Classes resumed: early mornings, schedules, homework, tests.  I felt pretty good, energized from the break, ready to tackle hour and a half long classes.  But after a week, I again began to look forward to another break despite the fact that I am not ready nor do I want to leave Russia just yet and the end of classes means doing just that.  Hm.  The first weekend back in Piter, I spent not doing a whole lot that was exciting - I ended up trying on half a dozen dresses for an 18th Century Ball, souvenir shopping, and doing homework in a cafe along Nevsky Prospect.


Spring is finally arriving! Yesterday I discovered buds on trees, and greener grass.  There are other signs, as well, like the multitude of street musicians, bikers, and people rollerblading.  Rollerblading stills seems to be quite popular here.  The days are getting longer and longer, it is staying light past 10 pm now! It is strange because it never quite feels late - it creeps up fast on you. And there is no longer ice on the Neva or in the canals (well, almost, we are in a freeze/thaw cycle)!

Peter and Paul Fortress

The Neva River

Here is a short story: One morning, as I was riding the Marshrutka to school, a thick layer of fog descended over the Neva.  It was so dense, you could not even see the opposite it bank.  As I crossed it, it felt like I was floating through space or going into some mysterious world that is removed from our own.  It was a wonderfully strange experience and sensation.  I could feel my emotions swell and I am recording this now - in haste, unfortunately - so I can perhaps return to it and flush out the details, make a real story out of it.

These past couple of weeks I have spent getting cultured.  Last Wednesday, I took a walking tour of Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment. It was really cool to be able to walk the streets, see the buildings, and see the bridges and canals that were in the novel itself.  Friday, I saw Tchaikovsky's opera "The Queen of Spades" at Mikhailovsky Theater (Пиковая Дама Pikovaya Dama) which is an adaption of Aleksandr Pushkin's short story of the same title.  It just so happens that Queen of Spades is my favorite Pushkin work, so it was a real treat to go and see it despite the fact that Tchaikovsky changed it up quite a bit.  The one unfortunate part of that evening was that my friend's wallet was pick pocketed as we were about to go to dinner! However, she was still able to get into see the show with me.  The weekend was spent learning to do the polka in preparation for the 18th Century Ball (more on this in a bit) and having the opportunity to visit a memorial that I have wanted to see since the day I arrived: the Siege of Leningrad Memorial.  It was both somber and beautiful.

"Home of Raskolnikov" Raskolnikov is the principle character in
Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment. The man on the plaque
is Fyodor Dostoevsky.

Something else happened on Saturday that made the weekend really great: I met several Russian students while exploring a rooftop with Ely.  Of course I have met other Russian students, but this was different, it was by chance and it was natural.  We ended up talking and laughing for the next several hours in a mixture of Russian and English.  They were just as excited to practice their English as we were to practice our Russian! Hopefully, we will get together again before I leave Russia.

Tuesday, following classes, I went to see Stravinsky's ballet the Fire Bird at Mariinsky Theater.  No wonder the Mariinsky Ballet is considered one of the best in the world - I have not been to many ballets, but this one was absolutely fantastic! We had great seats with a great view at a great price (that is, Maya and I). It was special for me in another, more personal way.  For a long time, even though I do not know much about ballet, I always had imagined that one day one of the characters in the book I have been writing would be a principle ballerina in the Mariinsky Ballet.  While there, watching the performance, I imagined that one of the dancers on stage was, in fact, a character from my book.

On the way home from the ballet, upon entering the metro, my backpack somehow got caught on the escalator, which was awkward for a couple of reasons.  The main one being that as I tried to step backwards to untangle myself, but since it was an escalator, I moved in one place.  Not to mention, a whole crowd of Russians were waiting to get on the escalator behind me...finally one of them came to help and unhooked me.  Then, something humorous happened on the train itself.  An old man stepped on, and so a woman stood up to give him her seat.  He flat out refused, saying he would not take a woman's seat.  She insisted, but he held fast, and they argued for a minute or two about who should be sitting in that seat.  Finally, another man, younger, stood up, thus resolving the issue and both the old man and woman were able to sit.

Wednesday, I had every intention to study for two tests that I would be taking on Friday, but instead joined some friends after class and went to the Museum of Russian Political History.  We spent all of our time moving through the Soviet exhibits, listening to our very knowledgeable guide.  This is a topic on which I could go off, especially about the years Stalin was in power.  It was scary.  There is a certain discomfort that builds at the base of your stomach and it is hard to wrap your head around it.  I am so fascinated by Stalin, and hopefully I can spend the summer learning more about him and what he did.  Just to give you an idea, he went through every province and republic of the Soviet Union and listed how many people should be killed in each one - no names (although in other instances he personally chose whom should disappear, be killed, or sent to gulags) - just numbers.  Two thousand people should be killed here, one thousand in this province, and so on - it was a quota that needed to be filled.  It was class warfare and the numbers represented wealthy peasants or just about anyone else who was opposed to the regime and Soviet ideology.  I will leave it at that for now.

On a brighter note, Thursday was the 18th Century Ball at Smolny Convent, where I study.  It was so much fun to dress up in period attire, dance the polka, witness a duel, and spend time with friends.  The light was so nice by that time of the evening that it made for great photos.  At the end, we all danced to modern music - which was really hilarious due to the fact that we were all dressed up in 18th Century attire.  I am so glad I decided to participate, I have not danced like that in such a long time, and it was refreshing.

 

Now, Friday has come and gone, and Saturday morning I leave for Pskov.  This fact means I should head to bed now, so good night! 

A Little Bit of Ukraine

The last part of travel week was spent in Kiev, Ukraine.  Unfortunately, Ukraine and I got off on the wrong foot, and I found it somewhat difficult to enjoy myself as much as I could have while there.  It was hard to leave Georgia, and after having woken up late, I did not get to say the proper farewell that I had wanted.  When we arrived in Kiev, it was rainy, gray, and chilly.  It was difficult to find transport from the airport into the city center that did not involve a sketchy taxi, and since there was little direction or information available that Ely and I could see, we ended up taking a sketchy taxi with an equally sketchy driver.  After having left us off at the wrong stop, I realized I had forgotten my hat in the backseat - but the taxi was already moving and my legs stood frozen in one place.  By the time I did start running after the taxi, it was too late.  Things fell apart for me after that, and tried as I might to pull myself together, I just could not.  We spent the next hour trying to find the hostel.  The metro system is very confusing in Kiev.  You go underground and instead of encountering the metro, you encounter a myriad of shops and vendors, there are no signs directing you to the metro.  Even when you do eventually find the metro, it is not very well marked in terms of color coordination or numbering.  I do not mean to complain; in fact, I hate doing it.  It is not entirely fair for me to judge the city based on two days spent there, with one of those days being thrown off and upset, so I am going to stop the negativity here. Anyway, I think being upset had more to do with not having communicated with friends of family in over a week than it had to do with Kiev.

I would like to mention, however, that I thought the tram and trolleybus system in Moscow and Saint Petersburg were and are archaic, but compared to Kiev, they are masterpieces of modern public transportation.  In Kiev, it all looks like it could fall apart at any moment into pieces of scrap metal that could give you tetanus with a single prick of the skin.

The next morning, Saturday, I took to the streets of Kiev with camera in hand to try and clear my head, calm down, and enjoy myself.  The weather was decent, cooler compared to Georgia but warmer than Saint Petersburg or Moscow, and partly sunny.  Nothing about which to complain.  After taking a metro close by to my hostel, I rode up one of the longest, if not the longest, escalators in the world.  While riding up, a young woman was kind enough to give me a flower, which I carried with me for the rest of the day until all the petals fell off.  It did not take too long to happen upon the massive park that runs along the Dnieper River nor to happen upon the large Orthodox monastery.  Come to think of it, in Eastern Europe and Russia, you never really are too far away from a church as odd as that may sound coming out of the Communist era, but it is true.  You hear about all the famous churches, both ones that survived and were destroyed and were revived, but you don't always stop to think about the smaller churches.  There is a beautiful Russian Orthodox Church about two blocks away from where I go to school.  Smolny Convent, where I go to school, was designed to be a monastery, but never ended up as such.  However, I am getting distracted. The National Kiev-Pechersk Historical and Cultural Preserve that I "stumbled" upon in Kiev along my walk was not small and certainly is well-known. I ended up spending a couple hours there exploring, for the place was rather large and there were plenty of paths on which to walk.  It was nice...I finally could feel myself calming down and enjoying my time, which is what I really needed after the hard time I had the previous day.

Cathedral of the Dormition 

 After wandering around the preserve for awhile, I finally made it to my intended destination: the Great Patriotic War Museum.  There is a large portion of the museum that if open air, and it is really interesting how they set it up.  As you are walking through the park, viewing tanks and various artillery, there is dramatic yet somber music playing in the background.  Coupled with the growing cloudiness, it really put me in the mood.  The museum is one of the largest in Ukraine, and the centerpiece is a 62-meter Motherland statue.

I thought that the museum was wonderfully organized and I really enjoyed taking my time and going through it. 

That night, I had dinner at a nice Ukrainian restaurant with Ely, who, by the way, went to Chernobyl while I explored Kiev and had returned only that evening.  The next day, we slept in a little bit, had coffee and hot chocolate at a coffee shop not far from the hostel, and then proceeded to the airport to catch our flight home to Saint Petersburg.  

I must conclude by saying that I left Ukraine with a better impression than when I first arrived.  I did enjoy myself and I found the places that I visited interesting.  If and when I ever go back, let my experiences improve even more.  

Stepping on Sacred Ground

Georgia is sacred in every sense of the word.

Sacred in the literal sense:

Georgia has a history that stretches back thousands of years.  Bones unearthed in Dmanisi turned out to be the oldest ever found in Europe dating back one million eight hundred thousand years.  My tour guide told me proudly that "Europe started here."

The geography is key.  Georgia is situated in the Caucasus Mountains at a strategic crossroads of Europe and Asia - a threshold between the Christian and Muslim worlds.  The ancient Silk Road routes chart through the country that linked the ancient worlds together.  The history of this marvelous country is a rich and often bloody one because of its location.  There have been many wars and many conquests, but through all of it, Georgia has survived with its culture and heritage and religion intact.

Sacred in the spiritual sense:

Coming to Georgia, I had certain expectations.  I had expected, being a former republic of the Soviet Union and thus subjected to the rules of the central government in Moscow, that Georgia's relationship with religion would be one that was mending like it is in Russia.  I asked my tour guide how the Georgian Orthodox faith held up during those years - and her answer was simple: it was hard, but they never lost faith.  The history of Georgia is inextricably linked with religion - for Christianity was officially adopted in 337 - and thus Georgia was one of the earliest countries to do so. The name the world knows Georgia by is derived from the Georgians favorite saint - St. George.

I was able to tour some of the early Christian monuments such as the Anchiskhati Basilica originally built in Tbilisi in the 6th Century.

I suppose it would be wise to start with my arrival in Tbilisi.  It was drizzling, but the moment I stepped outside the airport, I inhaled deeply, and felt the coolness of the air in my lungs.  After spending two months in a city, I had forgotten just how good and how refreshing mountain air can feel.  All I could do was smile.  Ely and I were greeted by our driver who drove us to our small hotel in Old Tbilisi in a BMW along President George W. Bush Avenue.  Georgia is trying very hard to be friends with the United States and Europe in order to join the European Union.  Evidence of Georgia's efforts can be seen and sometimes in strange ways - like a main thoroughfare being named after an American president and yellow marshrutkas buzzing around the city in a timely and efficient manner. Our tour guide emphatically told us that they are yellow because taxis in America are yellow.  The hotel where we stayed was tucked in an alley that we would probably have had trouble finding if not for the help of our driver.  Ely and I liked that idea - we liked the idea of staying in a place that blended in, of being in a place that did not ooze with the aura of tourists even though that was exactly what we were.  We set off into the city after checking in despite having no Georgian currency (the Lari) or knowing how to get around.  We were both more than reasonably sure in our navigational abilities, not to mention we had a little help from the hotel clerk, so we were not worried.  It did not take long for us to happen upon a delightful little Georgian restaurant steps from the Bridge of Peace.  We followed a wooden spiral staircase down into the lower level of a small room and proceeded to have a delicious meal - rich in spices.  Having such tasty food is a nice change from the good, but sometimes bland cuisine of Russian food.  It was chilly that night and we were tired after a long day of travel, so we returned to the hotel after dinner and prepared for the next day.

Then came our first full day in Tbilisi! I woke up to crystal clear blue skies.  This blue was intense, like the kind you find in Colorado or Montana...it really must have something to do with the mountains.  Breakfast was a loaf of bread with different toppings like butter, jam, sour cream and impossibly wrapped sausages.  After being picked up by our tour guide and chauffeur in a BMW around 10 am, our tour officially went underway.  We started in Tbilisi's Old Town, and visited the Holy Trinity Cathedral of Tbilisi.  I realized that this was the cathedral that was the awesome view from my hotel room window. It was constructed fairly recently, having just been completed in 2006, but the traditional style with which it was built leads me to believe that it will stand for another thousand years.

Holy Trinity Cathedral

Next, we visited the Metekhi Church and the statue of King Vakhtang Gorgasali, both of which were built on a cliff overlooking the Mtkvari River and Old Tbilisi.  

Foreground: Metekhi Church and in the background the Holy Trinity Cathedral 

Statue of King Vakhtan Gorgasali overlooking Tbilisi 

At the next stop, the Narikala Fortress, we spent at least an hour there learning and exploring.  The fortress overlooks the city and it is an ancient fortress.  It is situated on a hill between the Sulphur Baths district and the Botanical Gardens and was originally established in the 4th Century.  Much of the fortress was destroyed in the 19th Century following an earthquake.  Now, behind the remaining walls of the fortress lies Saint Nicholas Church.

Narikala Fortress

Foreground (Saint Nicholas Church), middle (Metekhi Church) background (Holy Trinity Cathedral)

Me at Narikala Fortress with Tbilisi and the Caucasus Mountains in the background

After trekking around Narikala Fortress for awhile, we made our way down into the Sulphur Baths District and weaved ourselves through Old Tbilisi.  While walking the streets, we saw a mosque, Armenian churches, sulphur baths, unique balconies, and many quaint cafes with outdoor seating.  We also had the opportunity to visit Sioni Cathedral and Anchiskhati Basilica, both of which originally date back to the 6th Century.

We drove up Mtatsminda Mountain and visited an open-air ethnographical museum that contains examples of the different types of housing from all over Georgia that people have lived in over the centuries.  It looked as if we walking through a pre-modern village.  I was also able to practice my very meager knowledge of Georgian there by saying hello, goodbye, and thank you to the curators.  At the top of the mountain, we stopped at Turtle Lake and just relaxed in the sun for a little while.

After the tour, we were dropped off at a restaurant on Tbilisi's main thoroughfare - Rustaveli Avenue, ate another delicious meal, and wandered some more.  It was here that I was beside myself upon entering an English bookstore and noticing all the literature on the Caucasus.  I ended up buying a Georgian-English dictionary and a teach-yourself beginner's Georgian handbook complete with audio CDs.  This was how I started learning German and learning Russian, by taking the initiative and beginning to learn it on my own.  Unfortunately, unlike with German and with Russian, I cannot just take language lessons in school to bring myself to the next level, there is just hardly any program in the United States that offers Georgian.  I will find a way, somehow.  But, I am getting distracted! Back to the tour.

Wednesday.  I was greeted to a slightly overcast sky when I woke up, but as I ate breakfast, cleared into what would end up being another gorgeous day.  Our first destination for the day: Jvari Cathedral sitting at the top of a mountain that overlooks the ancient capital of Georgia, Mtskheta.

Jvari Monastery 

Mtskheta

Afterwards, we went into the city of Mtskheta itself and toured the Samtavro Convent where the Georgian royal family is buried.  The first Christian king and his wife are also among those buried here.  The site initially dates back to the 4th Century, with buildings that were added on throughout the centuries.  Here I was able to witness the Georgian Orthodox peal of the bells, which was beautiful. 

Svetitskhoveli Cathedral 

Inside Svetitskhoveli Cathedral (on the floor you can see where Georgian royalty was buried).

What is fascinating about the Svetitskhoveli Cathedral is that is known as the burial site of Christ's mantle.   It is one of the most venerated places of worship in the country and also functions as the seat of archbishop of Mtskheta and Tbilisi. 

Then, we traveled through the Georgian countryside, seeing villages where there were cows in the streets and modes of transport involved donkey-drawn carts along the way to our next destination, Uplistsikhe, an ancient cave city.  It is known for being one of the oldest urban settlements in Georgia and was a major political and religious center.  At the summit, there is a church dating back to the 9th-10th Centuries.  

Uplistsikhe 

After exploring Uplistsikhe for awhile, seeing the caves and climbing around on the rocks, we drove to Gori, the birthplace of Joseph Stalin.  While there, we were able to tour the museum, the house in which Stalin was born, and his personal railcar.  It was interesting to be able to see the place where Stalin was born and where he was buried (along the Kremlin wall in Moscow) in one week! 

Statue of Joseph Stalin 

Once back in Tbilisi, we had dinner at an outdoor cafe, and following our meal, went exploring the neighborhood beyond the Sulphur Baths District.  It was there that a rather jolly older Georgian man saw us and invited us up to his balcony for wine.  At first, we ignored him, but he persisted, along with his wife, daughter, son, and grandchildren, and we finally accepted his offer.  The view of the city that he had was spectacular; in America, it could be worth millions.  Ely and I each received a full glass of white Georgian wine (oddly enough, from a plastic bottle), and encountered a night of many toasts.  We also had fresh pickles, pear compote (juice), and cheese.  It was a lively conversation spoken solely in Russian since Ely and I did not know Georgian, and the family did not know English.  I think it is exciting to be put in a situation where you are forced to speak another language in order to communicate and there is absolutely no safeguard in terms of your own native language to back you up.  Thus, with the knowledge of Russian that I do possess, we were able to communicate rather effectively.

When I asked if I could take his picture, he told me that it was a must!

The third full day (and unfortunately, our last), greeted us much like the last two - warm and sunny and clear.  I really could not have asked for better weather on this trip, especially after two months of the cold gray that is the Russian winter.  That day, we did not have a BMW to guide us around, instead, it was a stick shift minivan, and it is a good thing, because the roads we drove on that day were not well maintained.  After a long drive through the beautiful Georgian countryside in the southeast Kakheti region, we arrived at the David Gareja Monastery complex, which happens to be on the border between Georgia and Azerbaijan, and is one of the holiest places in Georgia.  This complex is on the Udabno half-desert slopes and includes hundreds of churches, cells, caves, and chapels hollowed out on the rock face on both sides of the mountain.  Monks still inhabit some of the caves there.  Then we did something that I did not think I was going to be able to do on my semester abroad - we hiked! We hiked up a mountain in Georgia, and hopped the border more than a few times into Azerbaijan! It was so much fun.  Added to that, we were able to view the fantastic churches filled with frescoes hollowed out in the rocks by monks centuries ago.

Kakheti Region of Georgia (filled with sheep).

David Gareja Monastery Complex (that is a dog, by the way).

Monks still live in these caves.

David Gareja Monastery Complex

This mountain (and church) forms a natural border between
Azerbaijan (foreground) and Georgia (background).

Monks would convene here for meals and meetings (on the wall,
 you can see a fresco dedicated to the Last Supper). 

This fresco was in the most intact room of the entire cave complex. 

Overlooking Azerbaijan

After the hike, we visited the Bodbe Monastery that overlooked the Caucasus Mountains.  Then, we drove to Sighnaghi, a fortified city with awesome views of the Caucasus Mountain Range.  We stopped there and walked around, the evening light dancing playfully over the city.

That night, after returning to Tbilisi, we had another delicious dinner downtown at a restaurant that played traditional Georgian music and performed traditional Georgian dance.  By this time, Ely and I had discovered the wonders of Georgian lemonade, which is not really lemonade at all, but exquisite carbonated fruit drinks from the Kazbegi region of Georgia in the north.  It was a fantastic evening on which to end this trip.  Below, you will find a video of one of the dances (if reading this by email, check out the website gretainrussia.blogspot.com to view the video, I also apologize that the video quality is not the best).  

Georgia is also sacred in the personal sense:

For years now, I have had a passion for the Caucasus region, the culture, politics, history, and Georgia has always been at the center.  I am not quite certain what draws me to this region, perhaps it is my deep love and connection with the mountains - but I am not always able to explain why, I just know.  Being able to visit Georgia, even if it was for only five short days, really reiterated the interest that I have, and I know on what I would like to focus.  Georgia and Russia, Russia and Georgia.  I would love to return to Georgia whether through the Peace Corps or on some other avenue, teaching English or helping a community.  Georgia is incredible in so many ways, the mountains, the culture, the food, the hospitality - it was the experience of a lifetime, something that I will never forget.  

The Heart of Russia

Moscow.  So much is conjured in the mind when one thinks of the capital city of Russia, it would be hard to write them all down.  I would like to share with you my journey that starts with the midnight train from Saint Petersburg to Moscow.

The train was not as uncomfortable as I thought it would be.  There were four people to a compartment and I had one of two top bunks.  Due to the fact that the train left late, we stayed up until 2 am chatting; really it is only the natural thing to do, and I am sure there are others on the train who did not sleep at all.  Sleep was decent, and I awoke around 7:30 the next morning to find that we were passing snow covered villages - it seemed so quintessentially Russian.  We arrived around nine and despite the bad weather - a cold rain - I was happy.  We were in Moscow! Right away, after stepping out of the train station, we were greeted by one of the Seven Sisters (now a hotel) built during the Stalinist era.  There were supposed to be eight to symbolize eight hundred years of Moscow, but the eighth one was never built in Moscow because Stalin died.  Interestingly enough, the eighth Sister was finally built - in Poland.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs (one of the Seven Sisters)

The hotel in which we stayed - Holiday Inn - was very nice and on the outskirts of the city.  The room to which I was assigned had an easy number to remember: 1812.  Immediately what came to mind when I heard this was the War of 1812 in which Russia defeated Napoleon.  This war is known to Russians as the First Great Patriotic War, the second one of course belongs to World War II.

There was no time to lose.  Following breakfast, we took a bus tour of the city - which may have been more exciting and beneficial if we had more time and if it were not raining and not foggy.  On the tour, we stopped at sights such as Red Square (more on this later), Cathedral of Christ the Savior, and Sparrow Hills that overlooks the city by Moscow State University.

Moscow is very unlike Saint Petersburg.  For one thing, Moscow does not have a code restricting the heights of buildings, so, therefore, there is quite a splash of buildings and because the city is so old, the taller ones tend to be built away from the center.  Another thing that prevails in Moscow, at least more noticeably, is Soviet architecture.  Walking around the city, I noticed many such buildings, often adorned with the hammer and sickle.

In addition, since Moscow is much older than Saint Petersburg, buildings and streets were added as the population grew whereas in Saint Petersburg, the layout is planned.  Being the capital and being a megacity, Moscow surely attracts foreign tourists - and because it is a big city with a confusing layout and notorious traffic, the metro would seem the best way to get around.  As far as I could tell, however, there are hardly any signs within the metro that are transliterated, nor are they marked real well in regards to particular lines - red, green, blue, etc.  Thus, it might take awhile to navigate this system.  On another note, Moscow Metro is said to be one of the most beautiful in the world, the prettiest ones having been built during the Stalinist era, and after seeing a few of the masterpieces myself - I would have to agree.

Moscow Metro (unfortunately I cannot remember what station this is)

Saturday, following a delicious breakfast, we left the hotel and returned to Red Square to visit something I am sure is on every tourist's list when he or she visits Moscow - the Lenin Mausoleum.  In order to enter the Mausoleum, you cannot bring any sort of bag with you, so you must check in your stuff and pay them 50 rubles to watch it for you.  There is a lot of hoopla surrounding the Lenin Mausoleum, it is like one continuous wake, you cannot stop to study him, your hands cannot be in your pockets, no talking, no smiling...there are soldiers in every corner and corridor watching very carefully.  After leaving the Mausoleum, we had the chance to view the resting spots of other famous Russians (and one American, John Reed).  The grave I found most interesting was that of Stalin.  At one time, you could have found Stalin's embalmed body resting next to Lenin's, but he was removed by the orders of Nikita Khrushchev.  Now that I have been to Moscow, everyone asks me (including Russians), if I have had the opportunity to view Lenin's body. I can now say that I have.

Lenin Mausoleum

 Afterwards, we had time to explore on our own, and with a couple of friends, we spent time on Red Square taking pictures and getting all the "tourist" shots.  Quarter to one, we met back with the group at the Aleksandr Garden where the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is located, and prepared for the Kremlin tour.  It was exciting to be able to go behind the Kremlin walls and tour the grounds despite the fact that it was far colder than forecasted.  I was able to see the working residence of the President of the Russian Federation from across the well-guarded street.  There were many cathedrals to be seen and the armory museum to be explored.

Red Square Krasnaya Ploshchad' 

Red Square with Russian State Historical Museum 

Saint Basil's Cathedral 

That evening, friends and I walked around the pedestrian only Old Arbataya Street.  We bought some souvenirs there - matroshka dolls depicting Russian and Soviet leaders, and a wooden magnet of Saint Basil's Cathedral.

Sunday, our final day in Moscow, was a very interesting day.  After I lost track of counting all the Yuri Gagarin portraits in the Cosmonaut Museum, a group of us went to VDNKh.  VDNKh or the All-Russian Exhibition Center was, during Soviet times, a place that supposedly was to highlight achievements of all the republics of the Soviet Union.  It is quite large (larger than Monaco, in fact) and resembles fair grounds, which I am fairly sure is what sort of functions as now.  All I can tell you is that a whole lot of strange was happening there.  First, approaching the momentous statue of Lenin, who but Lady Gaga was blaring in the background.  The main pavilion that sat directly behind the statue of Lenin and that was supposed to highlight the achievements, instead resembled a myriad of shop vendors and cat exhibits that looked more reminiscent of a Western style arcade in America.  Behind the pavilion, a woman was dancing around on stage playing an accordion to a large crowd who seemed to just stand there - a one-woman show performing only for herself.  Following the spontaneous decision to enter the Kyrgyz Pavilion by the Student Director, we stumbled upon a Kyrgyz restaurant where I am fairly certain they have never dealt with foreigners before...or even many Russians for that matter. There was a lot of staring going on.  I must say, however, that the food there was quite good.  While enjoying our food, they started doing Kyrgyz karaoke...I will just leave it at that.

Lenin (with Lady Gaga and Ke$ha blaring in the background)

Exhibit of Cats (middle)

Kyrgyz Restaurant

The three days I was in Moscow I visited Red Square five times, twice at night, which seemed far more impressive than when I visited it during the day.  The last time I visited Red Square, the emotions finally hit me.  So much has happened there - there is so much history and so much symbolism.  Over the years, I have seen and read so much about Russia, especially the Kremlin and Red Square, that to be there in person had a special impact.  I am not sure why it took five times for me to finally feel the history and symbolism, perhaps it was because it was the last time I would be there before I left.  Perhaps it was due to the fact that I had Red Square almost all to myself, even for just a very short period of time, that caused my emotions to swell.  (If you are reading this blog by email, check out my website gretainrussia.blogspot.com to view the video).

Here are pictures from the night tour:

Cathedral of Christ the Savior (and the Moskva River)

The Kremlin Embankment along the Moskva River

Cathedral of Christ the Savior 

Red Square 

Saint Basil's Cathedral 

Spassky Tower (Savior Tower) the main tower of the Kremlin