Nothing Says Fun Like a Statue of Lenin.

When we told Ryan about our "oversized monument" tour, he mentioned we might want to take in a glimpse of the famous statue of Fremont when we got to Seattle. Since this town is truly his home base, he had restaurant tips, parking tips, and apparently crazy statue tips. He suggested we see Fremont and added, "It's a fun neighborhood."

The truth is, he was right. Just as he was about our dinner recommendation in Capitol Hill. We feasted on momos and chicken curry and paneer naan at Annapurna, a Nepalese restaurant. I was also struck by the nifty little sidewalk art that was scattered in this neighborhood. The ballroom dancer in me was thrilled. All around the sidewalks were bronze footprints mapping out the dance steps with arrows explaining the moves for the waltz, the bus stop, the foxtrot and more.

In case you are like me and are a bit mystified by the presence of Lenin in Seattle, read on. This article was taken from here.

The 16-ft. tall bronze originated in Poprad, Slovakia, where it was first erected in 1988. It tumbled along with other heroic (and out of fashion) statues when the Soviets went down in 1989. For a time, the 7-ton Lenin lay face down in the mud at the Poprad dump -- until rescued by American entrepreneur Lewis Carpenter. Carpenter, who admired the artistry, mortgaged his house to buy and transport the statue to Seattle.

Carpenter died in a car accident in 1994. To recover the statue debt, Carpenter's family made an arrangement to loan it to the Fremont district until a buyer emerged. Asking price: $150,000. In 1995, Fremont put the statue up in the center of town, near a Cold War era rocket also displayed as public art.

The statue was controversial and remains so -- especially to Russian immigrants. It's as if someone erected a sculpture of a Klansman in the deep South (wait -- someone has), or Chinese Communists sold tickets for a look at Tibetan temples outside Disney World (oh yeah, that too...). Or someone slapped up a statue of Mark David Chapman, assassin of John Lennon, in Strawberry Fields (not so far).

Sure, Lenin the Man was a violent sociopath, catalyst for wholesale slaughter across half the world. But Lenin the Public Artwork is a beautifully crafted sculpture, and a catalyst for healthy discourse.

Today the statue -- still unsold -- is easily visible up the boulevard, past Organic Espresso and Kwangjai Thai Cuisine. He stands in front of a Taco Del Mar restaurant. Locals and passersby pause in his shadow on their cell phones, or rest on the monument steps after a hard morning of shopping. Ironically, he can’t be photographed without the Mexican fast food signs around him.

In the end, a Capitalist victory? Not really a “We Won” message like the Lenin that once stood in Dallas, the decapitated Lenin in in Las Vegas or Arlington, Virginia.

This one seems to say: "Whenever the world is ready for Communism again, freaky lefty Fremont will be there! Please buy this statue."