Moscow, the Kremlin & cemeteries

We arrived at the hostel to collect our bags and ran into a Martin from NZ and shared a taxi to the station. At the station we came face to face with the timetable. We had a problem. There was no column for platform. Eek. We searched our LP and wracked our brains and extremely limited language skills and phrase books but to no avail. Eventually, I headed off in a different direction than G or M had taken and found the correct board, platform included, so we stood around that, until it was time to board.

We got on the train for Moscow to St Petersburg. Our first train was ok. Nothing special. We shared with 2 Russian gentlemen, who promptly fell asleep and kept us entertained with a selection of snoring symphonies. After our 12 hour trip we arrived in Moscow. Our attempts in getting a taxi resulted in us realising how the taxi market forces work in Russia. Foreigners pay 10 times the local rate. We got the Metro. All quite civilized.

Well Moscow, is quite different from St Petersburg. Whereas St Petersburg has the old town with a very discernible heart, Moscow doesn’t. Although it does have it’s fair share of beautiful buildings, they are often interspersed with modern blocks. Our hostel is great though. It has a warm welcoming atmosphere and several guests were sharing the vodka in the kitchen. We were invited to join on our second night and got introduced to Ben and Stuart. Two English chaps. The next night we were joined by 2 Canadians and a Scot named Hamish no less. Conversation was diverse. But I learned where in the world the hotties or hot babes depending on your terms of reference, resided. Russia was in the top 4 but apparently Minsk was top, if you are to believe Hamish. The boys seemed quite taken with the fact that beautiful Russian women checked them out and even spoke to them. Russian women don’t seem to be backward in coming forward so to speak.

Well G and I came out of our hostel our first day we didn’t quite know which street to take. This eventually led to a difference of opinion which showed up some issues we are having. But at least some of it out of the system.

We did all the tourist things you do in Moscow. We went to the Kremlin. I guess it wasn’t what we both expected. We didn’t realize it was a very religious area with numerous churches. We had so often heard the Kremlin mentioned on tv and it always seemed to be associated with some political goings on.
Basically, the Kremlin is a fortfied stronghold. Many towns in Russia have these. Inside, the churches have amazing frescoes/murals and are incredibly colourful. We walked around the red square outside of the Kremlin. This was quite impressive. We duly stood in line to view the embalmed body of Lenin. I still think of Alex’s comment when we saw Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam. He was convinced it was a hologram. Not too sure this isn’t either. God knows… We ended up walking around the Lenin mausoleum and wandered into the path of the Soviet heads of state er em literally. This is where all the heads of state have been buried, the most notable with a bust to denote their last resting place.

One thing I have realised is that the Russians no matter whether they were soviets or monarchists; they all loved building fountains and monuments, as testament to their power & splendour.
In the Kremlin, we went to the Armory. This has an amazing collection mostly various presents given by ambassadors to the monarchy etc. along with jewels and icons from days gone by. There was even a selection of carriages and sledges belonging to long dead tsars and tsarinas. They were incredible. Like something out of a fairytale. I was duly impressed.
Outside of the Kremlin is St Basils Cathedral or Pokrovsky Cathedral if you are to use the correct name. Oh my god I have never seen such a beautiful cathedral in my life. It is a rainbow of colours but it all works wonderfully.

The next day we went to the magnificent Novodevichy convent. It is a bit out side Moscow but worth the visit.
I know it sounds morbid, but we also went to the cemetery behind the convent at my bequest. This was unreal. It is absolutely the most beautiful cemetery, I have seen. Although I have yet to see it’s Parisian equivalent. Many famous corpses reside here. Chekhov being one of the most notable for us non Ruskies. Could I find his grave, could I heck. But we located Raisa Gorbachov’s and a few others. 
We found one head of state who was a naughty boy, so it was not deemed appropriate to bury him where most of his predessors and successors are buried near the Kremlin.

It was a rare grave that had just a normal headstone. Most graves were embellished with sculptures that were either busts of the deceased or an emblem of their role in life. E.g. planes for famous pilots etc. Each a work of art in itself.
2 or 3 graves were multiple graves where the names of the passengers that had perished as a result of a plane crash were remembered. It was a very serene place and if I ever go back to Moscow, I would definitely revisit.

We also ventured to another one of my favourite places, the sculpture park. When the soviets fell from power, the locals decided they had enough of Stalin and Lenin statues. This resulted in many being ostracized to a little park near Gorky park. Since then, this park has taken on a life of it’s own and is now home to an ever burgeoning collection of various contemporary sculptures. One of the most striking sculptures is a large statue of Stalin. Behind and to the side of which, is a wall with various heads held in mesh. A reminder of the lives destroyed by this evil man.
Gorky park, just across the road showed of it’s wares of roller coasters etc. We didn’t go in but the bear had his photo taken there. I just had to see Gorky park. It has been the scene for many a spy caper.
We went to buy our train ticket. Again we got our ticket not exactly what we wanted but close enough. Wey hey.