Journeys in Russia: 1,025 Year Anniversary!

So it has been a relatively low key few days.

Tuesday:
Tuesday I decided to go to the Russian State Museum located near the Kremlin. It has been real rainy here this week so I waited until it cleared up a little. When I got to the museum I noticed that it is closed on Tuesdays. You think I would've noticed that the day before when we were looking around the gift shop. While walking around Red Square I noticed people going into Lenin's tomb. So I was wrong you can go to Lenin's tomb but they only allow it for a few hours in the morning. I am going to try to make it just to say I did it.

After striking out on the State Museum I noticed another museum that was of interest to me. The State Museum of Gulag History. A Gulag was a Soviet Work camp where "enemies of the state" were sent to perform hard labor. Essentially like a concentration camp. Not many people know this but it is believed that the Soviet leader Josef Stalin killed more people than Hitler. That is a ridiculous number of people. Many political opponents were sent to these Gulags along with many other innocent people. Well anyway I was hoping to learn more but after walking around in circles and finally finding it I found it was closed due to renovation. SWEET!

On my way back to the Kremlin I found an Irish restaurant and decided to stop in for lunch. I ended up talking to the bartender for awhile. She has traveled all over the world and had a lot of interesting stories to share. She mentioned that she was getting off work soon and offered to show me around. I, of course, took advantage of the opportunity and had a great time with her and her friend. We walked around for awhile checking out the posh streets and visiting the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. It was impossible to go into the church for the line was literally hours long. Evidently there is an icon, religious relic, that is on display. This icon is extremely rare and people were all about seeing this icon. Something to do with St.George I believe. I forget now : )

Anyhow, had a great time with the girls and really learned a lot about Russia from them. Many young people are not politically active. They are more interested in making money and enjoying life, rather refreshing really except for the fact that there is some messed up things happening here. If no one gets active than the problems persist. However I can understand there viewpoint because the same is true of young people in our country. She is interested in moving after she saves some money which wouldn't be the first person I talked to that has the same goal. Moscow is a very expensive city and she pays close to $900 for a small one room flat which she shares with her mother. Just like others I have talked to she works two jobs to make ends meet. She likes very similar to music, Red Hot Chili Peppers being one of her favorites. These experiences are the ones I will always remember, hanging out with my new Russian friends. We exchanged contact info and hopefully she will visit the US so I can repay the favor of showing her around. Fun Night!

Wednesday:
Took it pretty easy yesterday. Read my book and spent time down at the pool and fitness center. Nothing big.

Thursday:
Made it to the State Museum today. I got an audio guide which was good for there were no signs in English. I won't bore you with the details but I was pretty pleased to learn more about Russian history. I do feel like I have learned a good deal while on this trip. This of course is always one of my goals. After the Museum I walked around Moscow and made it back to the church Christ the Savior. Once again the lines were ridiculous and I think at this point I have seen enough churches : )

In the evening I headed back to the Kremlin for I heard there was a concert tonight. It was really cool being in Red Square for a large celebration. The celebration was for the anniversary of Christianity being brought to Russia, 1,025 years to be exact. There were a large number of people there and I did a great job scooting all the way up to the front near the dignitaries. There were prolific members of the Eastern Orthodox Church there along with political and army leaders. Security was tight, in fact you had to go through a metal detector to get there. However it was well worth it. There were many performers, modern and traditional. I will try to post below. Glad I made it for it was a good immersion into Russian culture.

The more I am here the more I like it. I know Russia has its problems and to be honest there is no way I would want to live here with the represssion. But there are some really good things. One thing I want to note: I have had absolutely no problems with the police. Before I came here I read that I should expect to be looked at with scrutiny and also to expect to be stopped by a policemen who would then demand money. Today while in the metro I was a little confused wondering what side to take in the metro. I didn't even ask this policemen but he noticed I was confused and walked over to me and asked if I needed help. Of course this was very nice of him and he was not the first to provide help. The police do not look at me with skepticism or anything. I also feel very safe here. I have not felt a moment of insecurity since I have been here, none.

Just in time for the changing of the guard at the tomb of the unknown soldier

I didn't notice at the time but Karl Marx is getting pooped on by a bird, hmmm.

Read an article how Moscow is trying to improve the popularity of their streets and increasing traffic amongst pederstrain streets. Many people go from the metro to work back to metro then home.

Cathedral of Christ the Savior. This church was destroyed by the Communists and then rebuilt.

My new friends Anna and Olya. People smoke a lot here and it sucks, excuse my French, for when leaving places you smell like smoke. It is acceptable to smoke in public places and many do.