MOSCOW 2

The Kremlin itself, along the west side of Red Square, is an extensive complex of palaces and churches enclosed in a triangle of heavily fortified walls. The present walls date back to the 15th century, but there has been a stronghold here since at least the 12th century, and habitation since perhaps the 6th.

We visited with a rather hectic guide, Tatiana, who wore very high heels and admitted to being 39... She tried to fit in too much resulting in superficial coverage of what we did see, made worse because the Kremlin was rather crowded. We made the obligatory stops at the beautiful Uspensky (Assumption) Cathedral (17th Century) and the horrible Congress of Soviets (1960s), and ended in the Arsenal, which houses the Imperial crown jewels and an impressive mixed collection of objets d'art, ambassadorial gifts of silver and crockery, 18th and 19th century carriages, arms and armour, Fabergé eggs etc. We also saw where Mr Putin has his office, in the same building used by Stalin, who used to leave a light burning night and day – and reputedly had a bust made of himself to cast a shadow on the curtain – so that all would know how hard Big Brother was working to look after them. We were assured that Putin was away, as the guards looked pretty relaxed.

The most interesting member of the group was a Brit who was in Russia on business for 36 hours – he left the tour early to catch his plane home. He had last visited Russia as a student in 1983, crossing the Trans-siberian railway. He likened the difference between then and now as a change from a black and white photograph to colour.

"What was it like then?" was the question on everyone's lips (including ours throughout our time in Russia). Although the mosaic of facts and opinions, together with the language barrier, make it hard to feel that one has a true picture, we felt that we had come close to some realities about both then and now. One thing that struck us was the attention paid to the education and devlopment of children. Naturally there were schools, but in many cities we saw other facilities for children ranging from playgrounds to art and music centres dating from the soviet period. Without denying the repression, the inefficiencies, the stifling of initiative and all the other grim aspects of soviet life, we gained an insight into some of the good intentions and successful aspects of a regime which could hardly have survived as long as it did if it had not got something right.

Across the river to the south is the area of Moscow which we most enjoyed, the Zamoskvorechie, an area of busy narrow streets with a mixture of tourists and locals, and frequent trams. Here is also the Tetryakovsky gallery with a large collection of Russian paintings, especially portraits of the 17-19th centuries. However, many works of some of the most important late 19th and early 20th century artists – notably Repin – were copies, often not very good quality, and without any comment. We noticed when works started appearing which we had seen in the Russian Museum in Petersburg. Often they bore a label saying that they had been collected by one of the Tetryakov brothers and our guess is that they were moved during the soviet period to the more prestigious gallery.

We went to a ballet, "Don Quixote", in the Bolshoi’s Children’s theatre. The Bolshoi itself is closed for major repairs until September 2008, swathed in protective netting, and there were few other events available during the summer holiday months.

Not far away stands the infamous Lubyanka political prison, which now contains a museum of the KGB. If I had taken this photo 20 years ago I would probably have ended up inside.

Another building in the same category is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, one of the "Seven Sisters" of stalinist architecture, another being the Moscow State University.

Finally, we visited the Novodevichy Convent, a quiet corner south of the Zamoskvorechie where Peter the Great's first wife Yevdokia 'retired'. His sister Sofia was also confined here after he deposed her, and after the Strelsky rebellion, in which she was implicated, some of the ringleaders were hanged outside her windows... Both are buried in the cathedral.

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El mismo Kremlin, en el borde oeste de la Plaza Roja, es un complejo extenso de palacios e iglesias, dentro de un triángulo de murallas fortificadas. Las actuales son del siglo 15, pero existe una fuerte aqui desde el siglo 12, y un centro de habitacion desde tal vez el 6.

Fuimos con una guia un tanto desordenada, Tatiana, quien llevo tacones en aguja altisimos y reconocio la edad de 39 anos... Trato de incluir demasiado, con el resultado que las visitas que hicimos eran muy superficiales; ademas el Kremlin estaba llenisimo. Hicimos las paradas de rigor en la bella catedral Uspensky (Asuncion de la Virgen del siglo 17) y el horrible Congreso de Sovietos (decada de 1960), terminando en el Arsenal, donde se encuentran las Joyas Imperiales y una coleccion imponente de objetos de arte, dones de embajadores varios de plata y loza, carrozas de los siglos 18 y 19, armas, huevos de Fabergé etc. Tambien vimos las ventanas de la oficina del Sr Putin: en el mismo edificio que ocupaba Stalin, quien dejaba una luz prendida noche y dia – y supuestamente mando a hacer una estatua de si mismo para dejar su sombra en la cortina – para que todos supieran cuanto trabajaba para cuidar a su pueblo. Nos dijeron que Putin no estaba en Moscu – las guardias parecian bien relajadas.

El integrante mas interesante del grupo era un Britanico quien estaba en Rusia en un viaje de negocios por 36 horas – se retiro temprano para tomar su avion. Habia conocido Rusia como estudiante en 1983, cuando cruzo el pais por tren. Comparo la diferencia entre "entonces" y "ahora" a la que existe entre una foto en blanco y negro, y una de color.

"Como estaba entonces?" era la pregunta de todos (incluido nosotros durante toda nuestra estadia en Rusia). Si bien el mosaico de hechos y opiniones, junto con la barrera linguistica, dificultan una buena comprension, sentimos que habiamos entendido algunas realidades, tanto sobre "entonces" como "ahora". Un aspecto que nos llamo la atencion era el enfasis en la educacion y el desarrollo de los ninos. Por supuesto existian colegios; ademas en muchas ciudades vimos otras instalaciones para ninos, desde parques con juegos hasta centros de arte y musica, que venian de la epoca sovietica. Sin negar la represion, las ineficiencias, el ahogamiento de la iniciativa y tantos otros aspectos terribles de la vida sovietica, tomamos conciencia de las buenas intenciones y algunos exitos de un regimen, que no habria sobrevivido tanto tiempo si no tuviera algunos aspectos favorables.

En la orilla sur del rio se encuentra la zona de Moscu que mas nos gusto, la Zamoskvorechie, una area de calles angostas, llenas de vida, con una mezcla de turistas y locales, y hartos tranvias. Aqui se encuentra tambien la galeria Tetryakovsky, con una coleccion importante de pinturas Rusas, en especial retratos de los siglos 17-19. Sin embargo, muchas de las obras de algunos de los artistas mas importantes del siglo entre 1830 y 1930 – especialmente Repin – eran copias, a menudo de calidad indiferente, y sin comentario. Nos fijamos en esto al ver obras que ya habiamos visto en el Museo Ruso en Petersburg. Muchas veces llevaban una etiqueta, diciendo que habian sido adquirido por uno de los hermanos Tetryakov, y nosotros adivinamos que fueron cambiadas durante la epoca sovietica a la galeria mas prestigiosa.

Asistimos a un balet, "Don Quixote", en el Teatro de Ninos del Bolshoi. El mismo Bolshoi esta cerrado hasta Septiembre del 2008 para una restauracion importante, y tapado con malla protectiva, y de toda manera no pasa mucho durante los meses de las vacaciones.

No muy lejos esta la celebre carcel politica: Lubyanka, que ahora contiene un museo del KGB. Al tomar esta foto hace 20 anos atras, es muy probable que habria terminado adentro... Otro edificio de la misma categoria es el Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores, una de las "Siete Hermanas" del arquitectura stalinista, otra siendo la Universidad Estatal de Moscu.

Finalmente, conocimos el Convento Novodevichy, un rincon tranquilo al sur del Zamoskvorechie donde la primera esposa de Pedro el Grande, Yevdokia 'se retiro'. Su hermana Sofia tambien fue encarcelada aqui y despues de la rebelion de Strelsky, en la cual estaba implicada, colgaron a algunos de los principales frente a sus ventanas...