oday was rather extraordinary, to say the least.
We started off checking out Russia’s version of McDonald’s for breakfast- which of course had pancakes which made me happy. And what looked like non-sweet potato pie. Halleluiah, civilisation.
Then Hugo and I queued up, a tad jumpingly, to see Lenin. After a brief queue (“the end of the queue is back there!””Is it? Oh.”) and a kerfuffle over Hugo’s phone being denied entrance, we walked past some plaques to dead Communists and into Lenin’s mausoleum. The Asians (possibly Japanese) in front kept talking so the visit was to a soundtrack of “tssh!” from the soldiers. We wandered down marble steps, around the glass coffin and back out again. Hugo and I disagree as to whether it is him, but I can’t believe we can preserve a body for 80 years like that. That and he looks like Lenin- not like a Lenin close to death. I was rather chuffed at seeing him as I now have the full house of Communist leaders- Ho, Kim, Mao and Lenin. Points for me.
Then we headed to the Kremlin. We wandered in and out of churches although they are to me like temples, all the same and not particularly interesting. I miss the familiar Anglican tradition.
Then to the Armoury. I can say without hesitation the Armoury is the most impressive place I have ever been. It is crammed with case after case of the most expensive, fantastic, unique objects. Even something tucked away in the corner of a case would be the star of another museum’s show. There were cases of silver given to the Tsars that were priceless. Gem encrusted silver gospel covers-tens of them. Silver jugs, plates, imperial dinner sets, ornaments. Gold, silver, diamonds everywhere. Faberge eggs (Mum’s favourite). Collections of the most ornate guns and swords- all inlaid with pearl and diamond. Suits of armour- both of man and horse. Another of ornate horse tack and a room of huge, opulent, almost god-like carriages. A room showing dresses the Tsarinas wore (my favourite). It was like a dragon’s horde. I cannot stress how filled with awe I was to wander through those rooms filled with such treasure- both in terms of sheer raw material as well as supreme craftsmanship and historical value. It got to the point where my eyes were exhausted from seeing all those wondrous things. It just blew me away.
Every object was priceless. I can’t possibly list the particularly amazing ones but there was a gospel cover with huge carved emeralds, large silver snow leopards (gifts from England), huge gold covered carriages needing 23 horses to draw it, thrones of ivory, dresses of gold and silver thread, silver dinner sets, huge silver models of castles on rocks, I could go on.
Mum rather liked the Faberge eggs. They all have surprises inside and one had a train with gold carriages that Mum liked. I liked a crystal one with a horse. The display of horse tack was fantastic- such intricate work.
It was just jaw-dropping. When we got outside we sat there, slightly stunned.
Eventually we roused ourselves and had lunch- I had borsch-which was rather tasty. There was a surprisingly cheap bottle of champagne we ordered and sat in the sun watching the world go by. Nice.
Then to Tretyakov art museum which houses a collection of art by exclusively Russian artists. Some of it was very good- although there were endless forested landscapes. Some of my favourites included a painting of a street in Paris using very indistinct brush strokes. Another was a woman combing her hair with a confident smile of one going to pull on her night out. Another was one of three people on ponies, of course.
I still can’t get over the Armoury.
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