Moscow

Do you remember the part in the new Star Trek movie (hey, make fun of the reference all you want but I know you've all seen it) where the young Russian guy, Chekov, beams someone aboard and then goes, "Yo-Mayo!"? Something like, 'Holy crap!' Well, my flight was delayed and rerouted because the airspace over Denmark was closed because all ground communications had failed there. We got to Stockholm (holla D!) 5 minutes before my connecting flight to Moscow was supposed to leave. As I'm running through the Stockholm airport to make the Moscow connection, which they were doing a last call for, there were two Russian guys running with me. We were all going as fast as we could to gate F65 when the terminal dead-ended at gate F39. As we turn around to run all the way back down the terminal one of the Russian guys, exasperated, blurts out a "Yo-Mayo!" I understood because everything I know, I learned from movies.

When I got to my hotel I ventured out to get some food. I ate at the first place I found. It had green discoball lights swirling around the room and 'America's Next Top Model' playing on a tv in the far corner. Bonus. I ordered, somehow, and was enjoying some Bulgarian Beef when the karaoke started. Double bonus.

I don't even know where to begin to start summarizing all the cool stuff I saw. I had a guide who ran me ragged physically and mentally. Yo-Mayo! This guy knows volumes about Russia and felt obligated to unload them on me. We started at the Kremlin and Red Square and the next day we took a car around to see everything else: Bolshoi Theater, former KGB headquarters, the Stalin skyscrapers, Cathedral of Christ the Savior, Tolstoy's neighborhood, Sparrow Hill, The 1980 Olympic complex, Swan lake, the Novodevichii Nunnery and cemetery where we saw the graves of Yeltsin, Khrushchev, Molotov- the minister of foreign affairs under Stalin, Mikhalkov- the Soviet national anthem lyricist (remember Rocky IV)...

Kremlin

The Kremlin is the place where the original fortress of Moscow was founded in 1147 out of logs of pine. St. Petersburg was the capital of Russia before the revolution of 1917, which was moved because Moscow was a more secure location. Russia itself had foundations much earlier than Moscow, in the 9th century by Swedish prince Rurik (holla D!). Apparently 'Rus' is a word of Swedish origin that means 'army,' and more particularly the army which defended the area. Thus the name of the country was born.

Russia became Christian in 988 when Prince Vladimir converted and outlawed paganism. In 1054 the Russians split with the Catholic church and have not recognized each other since. Unlike the Catholic church which has a pope, considered to be the emissary of Jesus Christ, the Russian Orthodox church has a Metropolitan, who is elected. In several cases the Metropolitan has been voted out of office. Russian cathedrals have a little different feel than Roman catholic. In Roman Catholic cathedrals, in my experience it is common to see plenty of undecorated stone which gives a very rustic feel. Russian orthodox churches however have walls and columns are completely covered, decorated with figures and scenes. For example, the columns of the Dormitian Cathedral are painted with images of martyrs, the 'pillars' of the church.

In Russian history among the Czars (a Russian take on 'Caesar') there were three rulers who stand out among them all.

• Ivan the Terrible 1532-1584
• Peter the Great 1696 - 1725
• Stalin 1924-1953

In 1953 Moscow had a population of about 500,000. When the Passport regime was abolished, which allowed citizens to move within the country, the population grew to about 7 million by 1980. Now there are about 20 million inhabitants, about 10 million of which are migrants from former soviet states, the largest influx being from Azerbaijan.

Anyway, the Kremlin is walled in on a hill and contains:

• The Ex Palace of the Congress of the Communist Party, now a concert hall
• The Senate, or Yellow House, where Lenin used to live, and where the President now works
• The Square of Cathedrals:

Dormitian Cathedral, where coronations and the Holy Virgin of Vladimir painted in Constantinople used to reside. They say that as the Germans approached Moscow in December of 1941 that Stalin had all of his troops blessed by the icon. Shortly thereafter the Germans began to retreat, and the story goes that the war wasn't won by a change in strategy or tactic, but by Stalin's change of attitude.

Cathedral of Michael the Archangel, housing 48 tombs of former Russian religious and political figures including Ivan the Terrible

The Cathedral of the Annunciation, where Czars used to baptize their children

• The Monastery of the Miracle, now the President's administration building
• The Armory, one of the richest museums in Russia

The Armory is amazing. Catherine the Great's wedding gown. Original horse carriages of the Czars. Priestly robes. Carl Faberge jewelry eggs. Elaborately decorated Cathedral scriptures decorated with sapphires, rubies, and emeralds the size of golf balls. (Apparently Ivan the Terrible had a thing for blue sapphires. Although banned by the church, he felt that they could keep nightmares away, and help him foresee enemy conspiracies) Gifts from foreign emissaries for hundreds of years: medieval suits of armor, Persian swords, Swedish (holla D!) drinking bowls, French dishes (Catherine the Great loved France, and it became common for nobles to hire French nannies so their children would grow up speaking French)

Red Square

This is where the famous Cathedral of St. Besil stands, with the elaborate colors, and spires in the shape of bulbs patterned after the flame of a candle. On the sides of the square you have a cemetery with the graves of Lenin and Stalin and other heroes. Behind it you have the National history museum. And on the other side, there is the GUM Department Store/Shopping mall. Three levels, and three different legs. Quite a nice place. At the entry to Red Square you have 'Kilometer Zero.' The point from which all distances in Russia are measured. There is also a huge statue of Zhukov, the Russian WWII general, then promoted to Marshall. There are two men who have been awarded Russia's highest military medal of honor twice- Zhukov and Stalin.

Metro

Moscow's metro system is pretty amazing. It is the world's third largest behind New York, and London. They say if you just line up all the escalators on top of each other it would go 37km high. The largest metro station has platforms with total length of 850m. There are a number of metro stations that have statues, or mosaics and paintings. For example the Kiev station was built in 1954 to commemorate 300 years since the unification of Russia and Ukraine. On the walls there are scenes depicting Ukrainian life. One of the main stations is finished with white marble to make it look like a palace. Stalin believed that it's the workers of the country that should be able to feel like they're in a palace.

Vodka

I told my guide that when I was in Mongolia, the Mongolians said that they learned to drink from the Russians. According to my guide, Finish people drink even more than Russians do. Interesting. He also said that before Peter the Great, drinking was only allowed two times per year, Christmas and Easter. But Peter the Great allowed drinking. He was also the first to introduce museums to Russia. He even offered free vodka to museum goers.

Wow, I really want to keep going but this is getting kind of ridiculous. I will have you know that the Trans-Siberian is treating me well. On my way to Yekaterinburg.