Moscow, Russia – 09/08 Lenin Mausoleum

(TJ) After exiting the Armoury we ran to get in line for Lenin’s Mausoleum since it was about to close. We love seeing dead things kept in wax like state by embalming chemicals, so it was worth the run. We were cut in front of by multiple tour groups, whose tour leader would slip the guard a small donation to cut, but fortunately, they closed the line just behind us. Once at the front of the line you have to empty out all of your pockets to go through a metal detector, apparently they are jittery about someone trying to blow up or deface comrade Lenin. There are also of course no pictures aloud, although you can buy plenty of postcards, magnets and T-shirts with sleeping beauty on them. Since I also had a bag, which is against the rules, Michelle had to stay out and hold our bag and camera until I returned, then she would go in.

After I finally got through the metal detector, you walk down a side walk for about 200 meters, then you see 5 or 6 gravestones. These are of course the former leaders of Soviet Union from the 1900s, like Brusnev, Krustav and…. Stalin. I was a bit surprised they were buried on the walk to the Mausoleum and had not read anywhere that this was the case. Especially Stalin, I didn’t think he would have his own monument… perhaps just an unmarked grave. Once I turned the corner from the walk I was stopped by a guard again before I was allowed to come in to the tomb. I had forgotten to take my ipod out of one of the pockets in my pants. Fortunately he believed me when I showed him it was an ipod. Based on what we read about corrupt law enforcement here, I am probably lucky he didn’t pocket it.

The tomb itself looks to be made of red granite possibly. It really just looks like red and black building blocks stacked on top of each other. If I remember right, the Soviet big wigs would sit on top of this building to watch parades through the red square. See attached picture I took of Michelle coming out (Mausoleum in the center of the picture).

So I finally get into the tomb, it’s almost pitch black and all I can see is the guards at each ninety degree corner. I almost fell down some stairs since my eyes are still adjusting. I turn the first corner at the bottom and I have one hand in my front pocket. Immediately the guard at the bottom of the steps starts snapping his fingers at me to get my hand out my pocket. Apparently I can’t do anything right in the crypt. I finally take another turn and see the sleeping beauty encased in glass and looking like he is made of a soft shiny wax. He really was a small man, I’d say maybe 5’-6”, although who knows maybe he has shrunk through the years. They really herd you through, you only get about 15 seconds to look before you have to move on back in to the dark corridors to exit. I was outside again before I knew it. I’m kind of surprised there has not been more of a call to bury Lenin, as its known that he was a Mamas boy and wanted to be buried next to his mother, maybe some day that will happen. Its worthwhile site to see just for the ghoulishness and best of all, it is free.

(Michelle) I can’t believe I even saw Stalin’s grave. I figured that like Hitler, he would be secretly buried in some unknown location. As we mentioned before, almost all the historical tsars from before the 1917 revolution were buried in St. Petersburg, so these are just the recent big wigs, and he is here chilling amongst them. I was actually only casually looking at the graves because unlike TJ, I do NOT take “Russian history during the 1900s” for a $1000 Alex, so I figured I wouldn’t know any of the names anyway. A statue of Stalin’s head is on top and I actually recognized his ugly big mustache wearing mug through a side glance. Since it was so unexpected, I didn’t really truly believe it until I came out and said to TJ… “Was that really Stalin’s grave?”

Lenin’s tomb is creepy.

After the tomb we took a quick walk by St. Basil’s cathedral, which is right behind the Mausoleum and can also be seen in that picture. We couldn’t go in because it was closed, but you can really only appreciate the onion dome from the outside anyway, right?