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We asked a few questions about Russian politics, but didn't press controversial areas too hard. This was our first trip to Russia and we were primarily interested in seeing the sights. We did not hear much harsh criticism of any one leader except Stalin, but several people indicated that they wished that Yeltsin had stayed on his tank and that Gorbachev had thought things through a bit better. President Putin was universally spoken of in positive terms and one got the impression that the comments were genuine. One older lady, a custodian in one of the museums, proudly showed me where President Putin had sat to drink tea. (She did not offer tea to me.) My guess is that Russians hope that their leadership is finally getting it's act together and will somehow continue to raise their standard of living. One man concluded our conversation on this subject by saying "We'll see."
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Following the establishment of the capital in St. Petersburg, the Kremlin in Moscow was little used and much neglected. It's buildings fell into disuse until Catherine the Great decided to build the Senate chambers there in 1776. During 1812, Napoleon occupied the Kremlin for about five weeks. On his departure he ordered it destroyed, but wet weather limited the damage done and it was restored by Czar Alexander I. In the middle of the nineteenth century Czar Nicolas I built the Grand Kremlin Palace and the Kremlin Armory. Following the 1917, Revolution, Vladimir Lenin had his residence and offices in Catherine's Senate building and later Joseph Stalin used it for a conference hall. Today this building houses the Office of the President of the Russian Federation.
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