All things Astronautical (Moscow ~ Russia)

September 2019

First stop today was to try and track down the statue to Laika, the first dog in space - sadly we failed. But for those interested in Laika here's a bit more info.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/laika-monument

But did find Bella and Strelka (stuffed and mounted) the second and third dogs in space.

However a visit to a park celebrating all things cosmonautical made up for it. Some very cool sculptures and an enlightening visit to a museum under the main sculpture.

Next door to this park is the massive  VDNKH which is an exhibition park to the glorious Soviet state. When I say massive I do massive as walked about 2/3s the length of it before turning back. You could easily spend a few days out here as there are 16 pavillions (one for each state) to explore.

Now a visit to Moscow wouldn't be complete without a visit to Gorky Park along with a photo of the National Control Center for Russian Defense. Think taking a photo of this a few years ago would have been a very bad idea.

Included in Gorky Park are monuments to those who have fallen from grace. Quite interesting as would have assumed most of them would have ended up in a crusher.

Just south of Gorky Park is one building that when constructed caused no small amount of consternation as the belief was that the top, with it's resemblance to a metal brain, was used control the minds and the populace. I can assure you comrade that it does not.

A bit further south again we found a impressive monument to Yuri Gagarin (the first man in space). The plinth is designed to resemble the plume of a rockets exhaust.

Must admit though as I gazed up at the statue there was a voice at the back of my mind saying "To infinity and beyond!'. As you can see this monument is in the middle of a busy road in a residential area quite a way from the centre of Moscow. Some strange looks from locals as we took photos from all angles .

The  next day started with a return to Red Square and Lenin's tomb - yup, we queued for an hour to walk past the embalmed body of the architect of the Soviet Union. Unsurprisingly photos were not allowed - pity as really fancied a selfie with Lenin's corpse. I assume because either there was a concern that constant flash photography would cause the corpse to disintegrate or they would give him an unhealthy tan.

Just around from the corner from Red Square lies the tomb of the unknown soldier and every hour the changing of the guard takes place. Lots of pomp, ceremony and goose steps.

For some reason it was decided that creating a mini replica of the Kremlin, in Moscow, and filling it with souvenir shops would be a good idea - and it sure was because we visited!