It’s my second time in Moscow but I’m still amazed by the city. Everywhere remnant of the Soviet times. Moscow is one of the few cities in the world, where you would actually visit the Metro (tube). Many have been built under the Stalin’s period and have remained untouched. They were used as well as a bomb shelter during the war and considering how deep the stations are, they must have been quite effective . When I compared it against Paris or London Metro, I can't help but admire it.
Walking on the famous Red Square or within the Kremlin Wall is quite unimpressive . Hard to imagine that this place witnessed the major events of the Russian & European history: 1917 Revolution, Stalin’s famous speech on 1941 while the German invaders were at Moscow doors. It’s quite incredible to see that Stalin has been buried under the Red Square under a statue of himself decorated with flowers. Next there is a mausoleum of Lenin where you can still see his body ! It’s an impressive sight. Turns out some scientist took Lenin brain in order to find out what made him a “genius” but they were unable to see anything special …
In many discussion with Russians and by observing carefully, you realize that Russians are really proud about their history. WW2 is called the Great Patriotic War and you can see many statues and posters commemorating that period. They like to tell you how mighty they are and that they beat Germany all by themselves, but don’t try to raise the fact that Stalin was a great buddy with Hitler until the 1941 invasion ..
I walked past a museum and they had temporary exhibition for the 200 years of the 1812 French invasion by Napoleon, which is still there 2 years later … Managed to sneak in a French speaking tourist groups where the Russian guide was basically explaing how great and smart Napoleon is but Russian were just superior. She pointed out that Russians won the Battle of Borodino which seems contradictory with my history books !!
