Raid Over Moscow Success!!!

I did it! I went through Lenin's Mausoleum and viewed the tombs along the Kremlin wall including Yuri's!

My trek started at about 9:20. There were four goals to my trek:

1. Tour the Mausoleum and the tombs.
2. Buy a bottle for Grace that is more "Russian".
3. Buy a traditional Russian dress for Grace.
4. Don't get lost.

The Mausoleum opened for visitors at 10:00 am. They do not allow cameras, electronics, or bags into the area. Therefore there are no pictures from the trip.

From our apartment it took me 20 minutes to walk to Red Square. Not too bad, really. I arrived a few minutes early and checked out the store in the Russian History Museum. I found the perfect dress for Grace at a good price but did not buy it right then. As I said before, I could not go through the Mausoleum with any bags.

After checking out dresses, I waited for the guards to let everybody in. There were a lot of people waiting, but I thought they were all waiting in the wrong place. This was based on where Wendy, Sonja, and I waited on our first trip when everything closed before we could get through the line.

Sure enough, right before ten a guard came out and began barking orders to go down to where I had previously waited. I immediately headed towards the right place and managed to get ahead of a lot of people, including a large tour group being escorted by guides and a large group of Chinese.

I especially wanted to get in front of the Chinese because they clearly had bags, cell phones, and cameras and I did not want to get stuck behind them at the security check-point. By the time I got to the right waiting place, I had moved up to tenth in line. By 10:00 there was probably already about 100 people behind me.

At 10:02 they let a few of us through, myself included. A walk of 100 meters took you to the security checkpoint. I walk faster than most people, so the only person to beat me to the metal detectors was a teenage boy. There were two metal detectors. I saw to my right the boy had set out his cellphone and Mp3 player by the detector. He was not about to get in with those things. Victory was mine.

The guard at my detector looked at me and asked if I had any electronic devices (I recognized camera). I gave him a direct and strong, "Nyet!" and with that he waved me through the metal detector.

I was in! First! Just like Yuri!

Next you have to walk an additional 100m or so to get into the Mausoleum. I paused to take a look behind me. Nobody was following me. The chinese group and the teenage Russian's boy group were now officially holding everybody up -- but not me! It was another five minutes before anyone came through the checkpoint.

Other than the guards, I was the only one around. I was stoked. My plan was proceeding smoothly. I think more than other time I have been in Moscow I had one of those "I can not believe where I am" kind of moments.

I approached the entrance to Lenin's tomb. The guard asked to me wait. After a momentary pause, he walked me through.

It was an eery looking place. It was very dark. Very somber. Dark granite or marble was everywhere. You walked down steps and then turned a few corners.

After turning the last corner there was V.I. Lenin himself. Or some facsimile of him. The only light in the room was illuminating where Comrade Lenin laid. It was a redish light. His skin was very peachy.

There is speculation as to whether this really is the dude himself or a wax dummy or some combo of wax and person. He certainly looked a little fakish to me, but what do I know. Plenty of our celebrities are half person/half wax so I won't criticize this Soviet celebrity for having a face lift or two over the years.

You are not allowed to doddle in the room so I kept a slow walk through the entire time. With that I exitted. After thanking the guard who escorted me I moved on to see the next things.

Behind the Mausoleum are some buried communist officials. Brezhnev is there, Andropov, and others. Joseph Stalin had the most flowers and wreaths of anyone. Along the wall are intombed the ashes of other important dead people. There are even some Americans buried there.

Towards the very end of the wall were the people I wanted to see. I saw the grave of Sergei Korolev, the chief designer of the early Soviet space program. I saw the grave of Vladimir Komarav who died in Soyuz 1. Yuri Gagarin died in a plane crash in 1968 and his ashes are there. The crew of Soyuz 10 were among the last along the wall.

And that was it! I had finally done it after six trips. Mission accomplished! By 10:15 I was all done.

Next I walked a few blocks to Dietski Mir -- Children's World -- directly across from the KGB building. I was trying to buy a bottle that Grace might like better. Getting her to drink from a bottle has been a battle.

Then I went to GUM to see if maybe there was a store that had the type of dress I wanted for Grace. I figured it was a waste of time, it has more upscale shops that cater to the new rich than American adoptive dads but I gave it a try. I managed to lose my trusty hat somewhere in there. I must have dropped it when I was taking it off. I was only there five minutes and backtracked my steps, but it was gone. Bummer. So GUM was not a good side trip.

Back to the tourist shop and I made my dress purchase. Yes, I bought a dress for my daughter. Wendy had no input. Impressive, huh? She had been to that store before and gave me advanced approval for a purchase, so figured I could not mess it up too badly. The price was much better than what we had seen near our apartment, so it was worth a trek.

As I walked by the now really long line to exit the Kremlin area, I was approached by several tour guides. "Gentleman -- sir -- would you like to see Lenin without waiting???" I loved saying, "No thank you, I have already been..." and "Sorry, I was the first today!" The more I got asked the faster I walked and the more Russian I tried to act. The last thing I wanted to do was pay those folks for something I could do for free. The last guide who tried to flag me was practically running to keep up with me.

Grace has been doing well today. She has eaten well and has had more formula than since we got her. The formula has been a battle, but for now we will win the fight...

She likes to say "booo" when she throws or does something. It is a "boom" noise. Her other word is "oooyy!" when she sees something she wants. She is laughing a good bit and seems to like music when I put it on the radio.

We are now packing and getting ready for the trip tomorrow. It is now less than 40 hours away to getting home!