ЛИРИР

Today it was Lenin's tomb in the morning. Probably the most surreal few minutes of my life... very strange. You descend into a dark, black marble crypt (the building is very large) for a while, and there are several guards at every point. The place gets darker and darker, you have to strain to see the steps, and then you come into an eerie, soft white (almost a soft green) light with big walls in a large room, underground. There are some blood red marble patterns around the outside of the room, several guards, and in the middle, Lenin, in all his waxy glory. He is quite well preserved, but it's very, very strange. The atmosphere is bizarre... I got whacked for putting my hands in my pockets. Girls need skirts, no shorts allowed, no cameras, no nothing. It was wierd... Looks like he could sit up, bust through the glass, and walk out to feast on the brains of the living (like I said, he looks like he just died, but definetly died). If he were to do so, he would probably turn right around and head back down as he stepped into Red Square and saw....

ГУМ, or GUM, is the former place where Muscovites got their rations and such during the Soviet Era. Now, it's probably the most expensive mall I've ever seen, perhaps rivaled in Paris, but it's got 5th Ave beat. It's nothing but $3000 handbags and $8000 pants from big name designers. There's even a grocery store, filled with 25 year old single malts and congac from Napoleons day. Needless to say, I felt out of place, but I managed to use the WC without paying, so I had a little victory.

I checked out of the hostel, my train leaves for St. Petersburg at 3:30 AM, 3rd class. I head to the train station around midnight (the metro stops at 1 AM) and then sit. Apparently, it's a popular passtime, and many at the hostel have had similar experiences. So... that's the day.