Vladimir Ilych Ulyanov - part two

So.. I got inside.

What opens up to you is a dark square room where a weak beam of light illuminates the glass shrine from above. HE is lying there on a read silk cloth. He is dressed in a black suit with a white shirt and a black tie. From chest to feet his body is covered with a black blanket. He is very pale, I was surprised at the fact that he still has hair and beard.

You walk around him and then walk away from him. You are not allowed to stop there as long as you want: guards will ask you to move forward.

Was it scary? No, it was not.

I was suprised though to realize how "real" he looked. Just like in the pictures or portraits you can see in a history book.

I read on the guide that the formula used to embalm him is kept secret.

I was also told that they regularly cut his nails, hair and beard. A periodic injection to keep his skin "alive"(and real) has such "countereffects" on his body. This is scary!

Poor Vladimir.. He wanted to be buried next to his mom in St. Petersburgh and he is instead alone in an impressive mausoleum and has become a turist attraction...

The Red Square

The first time I went there it was closed for the parade of May 9th. The second time it started raining half an hour after I got there. Considering that I do not like giving up, I went there a third time.

It is a grand, enticing, somehow open-ended place. When you step in you find The Cathedral right in front of you. On your right sits the Kremlin with its red walls and impressive towers. On your left stretches a stately 18th century building (which now hosts a high-priced/extravagant shopping centre called GUM).

Over the centuries the Red Square has been the place of markets, incoronations and death penalties.

Now it is a busy must-see, a stroll into Russian history.

Vladimir Ilych Ulyanov - part one

I am sure you have heard of him. Remebering those days at school spent reading those articles on the Russian revolution?Rembering someone called Lenin? Well that's him.

Last week I eventually managed "to meet" him.

Somehow half way from the entrance to the Red Square, there is a square monument on three levels, made of dark red marble and guarded by the "militia". Every day from 10 am long queues move slowly to pay tribute to one of the most important politicians and philosophers of the Russian Federation.

The mausoleum is sorrounded by graves of famous Communist leaders. Some of them are lined up on the wall of the Kremlin. Actually, there are not only political personalities. There are also social figures..Like Lenin's lover, for example. Such graves are your "welcoming promenade" towards Lenin.

Before entering such sacred and honoured place, you have to leave your camera and your mobile in a secured deposit. Then you pass through body scans and eventually you may be able to walk in the mausoleum. In few minutes you are at the entrance and in a couple of steps you go from daylight to darkness. There is no light inside but a very dim one.

Walls are of black/dark grey marble and steps lead you to the only available way: downstairs. Silence accompany the short walk to meet the inmate (I felt like I was entering the nether regions..)

Chistie Prudy - Friday 27 some time before dinner

9th May: patriotism at its best

On this day Russians remember WWII and the day in which the Red army defeated the Nazi.

Arrangements start well in advance.

A month before the big event the city ic covered with placards and posters. Their detailed charts, lenghty explanations, pictures and drawings have the purpose of "refreshing" yor memory, if not to make sure you understand what happened on May 9 a few decades ago.

Rehearsal instead commence a couple of weeks before.

So you may be sitting at a restaturant in the city centre, having dinner with your friends. all of a sudden windows, tables, chairs and glasses start shaking. "An earthquake?" you wonder.

No - replies a Moscovite, they are tanks, they are rehearsing for the parade.

Few days later, on a fine morning, you are enjoying your breakfast, watching the birds perched on the green branches of a tree. Out of the blue, you hear a gunshot and all the birds fly away. Then you hear other gunshots, repeated ones. And more shots again for quite a few minutes.

The artillery is rehearsing this time.

Then comes the music: mighty marches are played and sung in the middle of the day.

On May 9th, I woke up too late to be on time for the parade. but I was on time for the demonstration that followed the parade and ended by the Red Square. Red flags with the iconic symbol of the hammer and sickle were waving at the sky. War veterans with their uniform honoured with medals and bravery awards, headed the march.

Every year the sun shines on Moscow on May 9.. and it is not a coincidence.

There is actually a master plan being carried out. In case of cloudy weather, jet planes are sent in the sky with the aim of "sweeping away" the clouds. The planes shoot at the clouds some kind of chemical mixture made of silver and dry ice..and here comes the sun.

Moscow: facts

- It is the most expensive city in the world

- It hosts the tallest builing in Europe (the Federation Tower)

- Its saint patron is Saint George (just like Great Britain, Greece, Georgia, Spain, Brazil, Malta, Portugal, Palestine.. and boy scouts and butchers, farmers and field workers).

- It has more billionaires living in its streets than any other city around the world.

- Inhabitants: 12 million is the official figure (add a few million if you want the unofficial one).

- Life expectancy: male 63 years, female 75 years.

- Average salary of a teacher working in a public school: 15000 rubles (300Euros/260£).

- Average rent : 18000-20000 rubles.

- It concentrates 80% of Russia' s money and 10% of its of its population.

The Russian Federation is home to 160 different ethnic groups and indigenous people.

Moscow: some history

Moscow was founded at some point between the year 1000 and 1130. History books write about settlements around the area of Moscow in those years.

(I have been told that Moscow originally started out as a horse estate).

It was officially mentioned for the first time in 1147 when the Great Duke of Kiev - Iurij Dolgorukij, wrote to his allies invinting them over for a banquet.

Moscow did not have an easy life.

It was initially invaded and razed to the ground by the Mongols (1240 circa).

Then it was burnt down by the Tartars in 1571.

In 1721 Peter I the Great realized that Saint Petersburgh was a better place and moved the status of capital city there up north, abandoning Moscow.

Sixty years later a plague halved its population.

Then came Napoleon and Moscovites rather than surrending to him, decided to burn down the city. With no much left to conquer, the French Army withdrew.

Then it was the turn of WWI. No room for development there.

WWII did not help Moscow either. Nor did Communism help Moscovites socially or economically (well.. this actually depends on points of views..)

In the 80's Gorbacioev tried to reform Russia and so did Eltsin.

In 2002 Chechen guerrilla brought terrorism to Moscow.

According to a friend of mine who has been living here for a while now, in Moscow there is a terrorist attack at least once a year. The last one was in March 2010, in the underground.

Moscow - first impressions

It is huge, massive, polluted, dusty, noisy, crazy, busy.

It is crowded, glorious, magnificient, modern.

It is tiring, at times nonsensical.

It is full of contrasts, it can be old and scruffy as well as exclusive, ladylike and elegant. Surely imponent.

Domodedovo Aiport -to Marina Rosc(i)a

An Armenian taxi driver came to pick me up at the airport. I don't speak Russian and he did not speak English. He did not seem disocurage though and he tried more than once to have a chat with me. I couldn't go further than "Da" "niet" or " spasiba".

3 millions motorvehicles race and rush on the roads of Moscow every day. The drive to the flat was not easy, not for me! No one cares about speed limits, pedestrian crossings or crosslights. Changing lanes is a question of speed and luck, just like when you play tetris and you only have a couple of seconds to decide where and how to move your piece. Pretty stressful.

Almost two hours later I was in my room, trying to remember all the information I was given.
First thing firts: do not drink tap water. Water pipes in Moscow are quite old and are releasing chemicals in the water. Boiling it is no use (two days later a filtering jug made its appereance in the kitchen). I was then told stuff about my new mobile number, the tube map and I was given the keys.
To me though, those were just sounds, not words. I was so tired!.I went to sleep at 1am RUtime and woke up 10 and a half hours lof deep sleep.

Getting there, May 3rd - from my moleskine

"5.44 am Venice Airport, Italy

Here I am watching an awaking dawn half an hour before boarding. Firts stop in Frankfurt - after few hours the flight to Moscow. I found it difficult to fall asleep last night and so was for the night before that.

I am happy to leave but I have no idea what to expect.

11.19am Frankfurt Airport, Germany

I am ready to leave Europe and step for the first time in Asia!

(Later on, on the plane)

Not quite sure what time it is, I keep on falling asleep and waking up. The view has not changed since the plane took off. The panorama from this small oval window has only two colours: white (a mat of white clouds - bottom of the window) and blue (genuine, flawless sky - top part).

I still can't believe I am on a plane to Moscow!

The biggest country of the world

It's been a while since I last updated this blog.. There wasn't much to share. Lazy, maybe bored, surely plain days and weeks followed each other, like water flows in a river.
I did not do much, did not go anywhere, did not meet anyone new or interesting.. But then by chance, something started to change.
It happened on a Sunday afternoon, it was raining outside and out of boredom I was looking for jobs on the Internet.
It took me months to realise that that application from was the first step to freedom, the first gleam of light at the end of the tunnel.

Here I am now, waiting to leave the country once more.
I will spend the next three months in the biggest country of the world: Russia (actually "Russian Federation" as it is put on my Visa).

Wondering what is Moscow like, what is the country like and its people.. wondering how much of its great history I will be able to discover and appreciate..

Leaving on my birthday.. what a great present!