Part Three – Red Square
Moscow was just starting to rebuild. We were staying in the International Olympic Village Hotel section near downtown Moscow. It was a city of extremes from… The very rich to 3rd world poverty, from very elegant to very shabby. We toured the Kremlin and even saw the Czar’s Faberge Egg Collection. Czar’s wife hallway of spectacular dresses and gowns & 2 dozen handmade jeweled horse carriages. The strange part was they would only except American dollars for entrance to all government buildings. The highlight of the day was a trip to Red Square. The famous and colorful St Basil’s Cathedral is all that people say it is. Really beautiful! The only thing scary was the gory past that made it what it is. In the center of the square is the Communist Dictator Lenin’s Tomb. We had our friend Jack with us. To be fair the best way to describe our friend Jack would be a very loud retired opinionated gay Italian. So there we were at the very dark Tomb. Soldiers are at every corner and at the end of each turnstile line. Nobody was allowed to talk. The long line went up and down, back and forth. Then all of a sudden there you were in front of Lenin’s casket. Lenin is in a glass coffin dressed in a Armani Suit and slightly raised. You can view the old dictator from 3 sides. You would swear he could sit right up and his hands are within touch.. Jack had not been listening about all this and was very surprised. He said very loudly “Oh my God there a dead body in there!” With that four pairs of arms came out of the dark, covered his mouth and took him away! If there is any type of disruption there is usually a very heavy fine to pay. Later we found jack wandering around the sq. He was taken to a side door & kicked out . LOL LOL