Moscow, Russia

The main reason to visit Russia is for it's rich history. If you are into art, political, literary, or religious history, then you have to go. I was most excited about it's political history; and many of the sites I saw were museums and historical buildings representing Russia's long past. 

The stark contrast of communist cities is so interesting, and Moscow was a perfect representation of this. The city was completely surrounded by the boring grey buildings that usually accompany communism, with the center having the elaborate ornate buildings such as those in the red square.

I can't imagine living in buildings with no aesthetics. Having every building look the same, and no beauty in the everyday. It sounds like a boring life of repetition.

Then there is the Red Square and Saint Basil's Cathedral. It is over top, colorful, unique, and makes you think you made it too candyland. It is one of the most interesting buildings I have seen, and has just as interesting of a history. The official name of the cathedral is "Cathedral of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos on the Moat"; I have no idea what that actually means. 

In 1929 Saint Basil's Cathedral was forcefully secularized by the Soviet Union after it had already been confiscated from the Russian Orthodox Community.

The Red Square is the focal point of Moscow. It separates the Kremlin with the the Kitai-gorod or the Great Possad. The Kremlin is the official residence of the President of Russia, and the Great Possad is a historical merchant area that is now home to the most expensive shops ever (in my opinion).

The ends of the red square are capped off with these two unique and beautiful buildings. 

Even though Saint Basil's Cathedral is one of the most interesting buildings you've seen on the outside, I found the inside to be cramped and unappealing.

We toured a lot of museums while in Russia. Museums begin to run together in my mind, and since this was over a year ago, I don't actually remember which one was which. I'm just going post a few of my favorite pieces.

At the end of a museum tour, we had a famous Russian choir (which I can not remember the name of - whoops) perform for us. It was beautiful. The voices echoed perfectly through the room, and created the most peaceful ambiance (I was in Russia for my parents work so they usually have random amazing opportunities through the trips).

My favorite part of the trip was the tour of the Russian Tagansky Cold War Museum at Bunker - 42 . It was such a unique experience and an amazing view into the past. You begin the tour in a building that looks like any other. The entrance was hidden in a group of buildings that had nothing unique or noteworthy. Once inside, you descend down 36 flights of stairs or 18 stories and enter the large network of tunnels created underneath Moscow.

The facility was an emergency command post that was fully equipped for nuclear war. It is over 200 ft below ground and covers over 75,000 sq ft.

I'm pretty sure these tunnels remained completely secrete and operational from about 1950 until the mid 1990's. If that is the case, I imagine Russia replaced them with even bigger more substantial tunnels hidden around the city. 

Being in the tunnels gave me such a haunting feeling; it is crazy that things like this exist! (It also could have been the lack of oxygen since we were 18 stories underground)

The rooms and tunnels were connected with long hallways such as this.

Towards the end of the tour they show a video about the escalating arms race and the tensions between Russia and the western countries. They show you and old atomic bomb and play footage of nuclear testing. The video goes through the cold war and then shows how it could have ended. They have someone from the group (I was the lucky candidate), go through a pretend mission launch, and show how easy it would have been to start a nuclear war. I was given keys and codes and was told when to launch, and then once I pushed the bottom the video showed a nuclear bomb heading to America and blowing up some of its larger cities. The tour guide apologized that the video was of the U.S. and said she couldn't change it but to pretend it was a different country for the exercise. 

It is crazy the things that have gone on in the past that we so easily forget.

This Cold War Museum in Moscow is (in my opinion) the #1 thing to see. It gives you a unique view into the Cold War and what it could have been. It is a haunting example of what could happen in the future if things escalate, and what we narrowly missed in the past.