Moscow - Lenin's Tomb, Red Square por appaIoosa

Lenin's Mausoleum, Red Square. The Kremlin building is in the background (the interior of the Kremlin is mostly off-limits to outsiders). The tomb contains the long-preserved cadaver of the father of the Soviet system. Some locals whisper that the real Lenin was supposedly replaced with a wax copy some years back. His embalmed body has been on public display since 1924 (with the exception during WW II when it was moved to Tyumen, Siberia when Moscow was in danger of falling to the Germans). There has been talk of moving Lenin again, and burying him next to his mother in Saint Petersburg; however, Vladimir Putin put an end to that idea. We didn't go in (as it was closed by the time we got there), but it was interesting to be standing in a spot with so much historical significance! To the left of the mausoleum (not shown in photo, because I couldn't get close enough) are the graves of various Soviet heads of state - including Josef Stalin's, decorated with fresh flowers (old habits die hard, I guess.) ;-) ----------------------- Day 6 Fri, 23-Sept-2011