Fantastic treasure and where to find it

Trip Start Jan 26, 2008

Trip End Feb 29, 2008

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Where I stayed

Kosmos Hotel

(Moscow hotels)

Flag of Russia Moscow, Russia
Saturday, February 2, 2008

Today is our last full day in Moscow. We had a leisurely breakfast in the Kalinka restaurant and then headed out into the cold, destination: Red Square. Having got our bearings in the city yesterday we were able to get off at the correct Metro station, follow the signs out through the correct exit and make it to Red Square with not one single unintended detour. We ended up arriving in Red Square with forty minutes to spare before the Kremilin opened for the day. Given our surfeit of time we decided to secure some coffee before proceeding any further. Coffee in hand we started casting around for somewhere to buy tickets to see the Kremlin. We had assumed (ass-u-me) that the entrance to the Kremlin was from Red Square, so we headed in what we thought was the right direction. A guard in military uniform and with an automatic weapon slung over his shoulder waggled his finger at us as we made to enter a cordoned off area through what we thought was an entranceway. Not wanting to annoy the man with the automatic weapon any further, we refrained from entering and got out our phrase-book and managed to translate the sign adjacent to the entrance we were trying to use; turns out we were at the employees entrance. We double checked the guide book - enter the Kremlin via the north gateway. Checked the map to work out where north was and headed in that direction. Found a queue with lots of people at the northern end of Red Square. Got in the line, checked my backpack, our camera and our camera phones and got in line for a security check.

Up from the bowels of the earth

A lady in front of us passed through the checkpoint with a very large leather handbag, Belle was refused entry with her smaller shoulder bag which is made of nylon material similar to that used for a backpack or school bag. Turns out Belle's bag was not a woman's bag, Belle insisted she was a woman and it was her bag, ergo it must be a woman's bag but the military guard was unmoved. I took Belle's masculine bag to the bag check and we were finally allowed admittance. Turns out what we were allowed admittance to was Lenin's mausoleum. We wandered passed a whole series of plaques marking the interment sites of what I assume are the heros of the Revolution and then descended into Lenin's Mausoleum. I had to remove my hat as we entered and we descended into the crypt via a series of stairwells and hallways with military guards every 10 metres or so. Once in the crypt you walk past three sides of the wooden casket with glass sides to view the body of the dead revolutionary. We paused at one point but were quickly told to keep moving by the watchful guard. It was a strange experience, the body looks like a wax-work with very stiff outstretched arms that seem to float unnaturally in the air above the torso.

We left the mausoleum, collected our belongings from the bag check and headed further north, turned the corner and started walking along the north face of the Kremlin precinct. Along here we found the Russian World War II (The Great Patriotic War) memorial. We took some pictures of the eternal flame and some white marble columns - not sure what the represent but we have pictures so we may be able to work it out latter.

The Great Patriotic War Memorial

Up in the distance we finally spotted what must be the Northern Gateway to the Kremlin. We navigated the icy road and climbed the stairs - there are stairs everywhere in Moscow - and located the ticket booth. We purchased tickets for the Armoury, not realising at the time that by doing so we would only see inside the Armoury and not get to go into the main Kremiln precinct where the numerous churches and other buildings are. we tried to enter via the Northern Kremlin gate - 'Nyet, Armoury - over there'. So off we went in the indicated direction, the Armoury is at the North West corner of the Kremlin precinct, more stairs, more slippery roads.

We got to the Armoury entrance and joined the queue. There are four, one and a half hour seances (their word, not mine; I guess 'sessions' would be clearer) each day to visit the Armoury. We had tickets for the second seance - 12:00 - 13:30 (24 hour time is in common usage over here). When entered the Armoury after about a 20 minute wait, checked our bags and coats and entered the exhibition halls via the Grand Staircase - very grand except when you have to walk up it - Belle is sick to death of the sight of staircases. The exhibits are on two floors, the top floor contains jewelry, gold and silverware, armour and weaponry, and Faberge eggs; the bottom floor contains clothing - religious and secular, state regalia, horse harnesses and saddles, and royal carriages.

The exhibits are breathtaking, (insert other cliche here), and incredible. There are some 55 glass exhibit cabinets, each one filled with dozens of priceless objects.

The Great Patriotic War Memorial

Russian religious icons of outstanding beauty and intricacy, bejeweled tableware, exquisite silverware by the finest silversmiths of Europe that had been presented to the Russian court as ambassadorial gifts, ancient armour, exquisitely decorated ceremonial armour and weaponry, gorgeous garments, grand Rococo carriages, et cetera, the list goes on and on. You have absolutely no chance of taking it all in during the one and a half hours you are allotted. I am sure it would be possible to go back each and every day for a week and still not be able to take it all in. The audio guide I had kept saying that this or that was the greatest collection of this or that in the world; I guess I am a little skeptical of these claims but I will readily believe them if they turn out to be true.

After the Armoury we headed for the Nikoulin Moscow Circus Theatre to try and secure tickets for tonight's performance. We had attempted to purchase tickets yesterday at one of the many ticket booths that are dotted around the city, usually outside the entrance to the Metro stations. The lady in the ticket booth wanted to sell us tickets for the 9th of February and kept shaking her head when we indicated we wanted tickets for the 2nd of February. We located the Theatre's ticket booth and Belle went and waited in the queue while I got out the phrase-book and painstakingly translated a sign on the door with February's dates down one side and various other pieces of information next to various dates. After a good ten minutes some bad news emerged - there were no performances this week, performances recommence on February the 9th and then occur irregularly for the rest of the month.

The Elusive Northern Kremiln gateway

I had overheard some English being spoken in the queue and we were able to confirm the bad news.

After this setback we decided to try and find 'Biblio Globus', a Russian bookshop. After a hike through the Moscow city streets, punctuated by several flights of stairs, we found the book shop and set to exploring. An exhausted Belle was overjoyed to locate the Cafe in the basement where she settled in for a well deserved rest. I set about exploring the rest of the three levels of books. Many of you may know that I love books and so I found myself in a mixture of heaven and hell - heaven, an enormous bookshop, hell, I couldn't understand a word printed in the majority of the books. It was like being the last man alive in the world with access to the greatest collection of books and then immediately going blind (Futurama fan anyone?). I did find a Russian-English/English-Russian dictionary, a book of Russian children's stories that seemed to be modeled along the lines of Aesop's fables and a book in English on the history of the Moscow Metro. The authors of this book seem to have translated it into Russian themselves, without reference to a native speaker of English. I will give you a sample and you can decide if I am right: "All the data used in the album were carefully checked up. However the Publishers do not guarantee that there are no accuracies at all (sic)." I think they just told us that nothing in the book should be believed!

So we concluded out last full day in Moscow. Metro back to our Hotel - more stairs - curses! Dinner from one of the food vendors along the way and up a final flight of icy stairs and into the warmth of the Hotel. Belle is sound asleep as I write this, recuperating for our assault on Gorky Park tomorrow, after which we will hop a train for St Petersburg.

By the way, Belle and I are now two all in the 'falling over on the iced up sidewalk' stakes.