Lenin's Tomb: Best. Date. Ever.

I had offered noon as a meeting time but Esla and Emel asked us to meet them at Lenin’s Grave at 9:30 in the morning. Not being idiots, we agreed and made it there by 10. Making an already slightly morbid meeting more ominous, it rained all morning while we waited an hour in line to see Lenin’s corpse. Soaked through, we eventually made it to the mauseleum and entered the minimalist structure. Making the creepy halls even more surreal were the soldiers who silently pointed in the direction we were to walk. Inside a square room with no decorations, Lenin lay dead and waxy in a brightly lit glass casket. It was the only moment of pure silence we’ve had on our trip. His ear was slightly decaying and his eyes looked sewn shut. His signature Lenin goatee-moustache was intact but sparse but carefully manicured. Getting soaked in rain before seeing an old dead guy really set the mood for the rest of the day with the Turks. After such a morning in Moscow, things could only get better.