Ice Skating and Soviet Bunkers

The past week has been an overload of activities and school. My day starts with three hours of one-on-one Russian class, an hour break, and then almost two hours of politics on the Soviet Republics. By the end of the day, my brain has been beaten to a soft, mushy pulp that more resembles goulash than a working organ.

One night we were treated to ice skating on the rink set up outside in Red Square. Besides the historically-minded spasm of ice skating between where tanks once rolled and Lenin's tomb, it was for the most part very relaxing and fun. Apparently, there were no restrictions on the number of people on the ice, so I collided with more children than if I had been at Neverland Ranch. I navigated my way around the rink, being out-skated by what seemed to be every professional hockey player that has ever represented Russia or the USSR, accompanied by his fur-coat wearing blond supermodel .

The following day, we had a chance to visit the bunker from which they controlled the Soviet Air force in the '50s. After a thorough passport check, we were led 60 meters underground and shown a short documentary of the Cold War. Slightly different from what I learned in school, it suggested that the U.S. dropping the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was not a military last measure, but actually a display of power to threaten the USSR. They told us that this bunker was completely secret to the surrounding population, which was impressive considering the secret entrance was in one of the metro stations. We got to wear gas masks, hold AK-47s and take pictures while being shown how the system of telephones and life support (in the case of nuclear attack) worked.

What is the reason it was no longer in use and we were able to see it? Apparently there are now nuclear bombs that can drill to 60 meters before exploding, so the bunker was no longer exactly practical. Disturbingly enough, the Russian government still operates from secret bunkers even further below Moscow. Although if I did learn one thing from history, it's that the US won the Cold War, so you have to know that we have some pretty awesome toys that are secret to everyone but the military.