Behind the Iron Curtain (June 2016)

Metro Madness and the Cemetery

By Allan Brown:

After arriving in Red Square We merged back into Moscow morning traffic and grid lock. It was the kind where only one car per traffic signal was getting through as we clawed our way towards our first stop the Novodevich’ye cemetery. The Novodevich’ye cemetery is the Who’s Who of the Russian dead. The plots are not very big in size so the tombstones over compensate for that. The tombstones are essentially sculptures depicting the achievements and life of the Russian elite. There were past presidents, generals, artists, poets, builders of aircraft and actors side by side. The rain was light and it was chilly enough for us native Southern Californians to wear gloves and scarves. Our guide, who sounded like Borat, guilt tripped us into not using the bathrooms and after 45 minutes we boarded the bus.

This city tour not only included the cemetery but also free time in Red Square. We were to return to Red Square by 1:00pm in order to have 90 minutes to eat and shop. The bus was to tour out into the city before returning to Red Square. We tried to make a loop but ended up making a U Turn because the traffic was so bad. Our Guide “Borat” had used up all his material and was now winging it. We were easily lulled into a slumber with the droning of every factoid he could muster. We did not make it back to Red Square until 2:00 which gave us only 30 minutes of free time. We unanimously voted to first find a restroom and then wolf down a sandwich at GUM, before meeting to the Equestrian statue of Marshal Georgy Zhukov in Manege Square.