Postcards From Russia.

I'm super glad that I know people who actually get to travel to amazing places, so that upon their return, I can drill them with questions about their travels. This is much more fun than reading about the world from a history or travel book. So when my dear friend, Amy and her husband Dave told me they were going to Russia last month, I immediately requested pictures. And when Amy sent me the pictures, I wanted to know more! The fact is, I don't know a whole heck of a lot about Russia except that (past) President Gorbachev has a huge birth mark on his bald head and their prime minister has a funny last name (Vladimir Putin). Sorry, saying "Putin" always makes me laugh.
Russia is a mysterious and interesting country to me--think about the KGB, and the Cold War (Stalin)--this country has been through A LOT. And how exciting that Amy and Dave had the opportunity to walk the streets of Moscow, experience the culture, the people, and the sights, sounds and smells of the city for themselves. And how lucky we are for their willingness to share their experiences with us. Enjoy!


Amy and Dave in front of St. Basil's Cathedral.

The view of Red Square from inside St. Basil's Cathedral.

Russians love Starbucks!
The Cathedral of Chris the Savior. Its actually a reproduction of the original, built in the 90s, Stalin destroyed the original.

The Bolshoi Theatre where the famous ballet performs, its under renovation right now and the statue in front is a special decoration for Victory Day.

My "KGB-like" Interrogation of Amy and Dave:

1- What was your favorite thing/experience about Russia?

Dave's response: finding and eating at a Georgian restaurant because it was so consistently recommended that we do so. By week's end, we had attained a familiarity with Cyrillic and with Moscow sufficient to our finding a restaurant in a quiet neighborhood, unadorned with a hint of English signage. In keeping with the exterior, none of the restaurant’s staff spoke any English whatsoever. Despite this, Amy and I successfully navigated the restaurant menu and ordered what turned out to be the best meal we had in Russia. This was a thoroughly rewarding experience, both in terms of the meal and the accomplishment its acquisition represented.

Amy's response: going inside the Kremlin walls. All my life I had heard about the Kremlin and never really understood what it was but I was pretty sure that as an American I would never see it. To walk within those walls and on the grounds was truly incredible and humbling, our history is so quickly changing, you just never know what you may come to understand in ten years about an enemy of today.

2- What was your least favorite?

Amy's response: the complete inability to effectively communicate. Nobody outside our hotel spoke English and the alphabet isn't even the same. It made everything just a little harder. That and the fact the famous Nikulin Circus was sold out. I would have loved to have seen the Russian circus.

Dave's response: I'd concur with Amy on this; not being able to communicate- and being consistently laughed at when I attempted to- was hugely frustrating. I have a completely new appreciation for the difficulties one must face coming to the US without an English fluency.

3- How were you treated by the Russian people?
Dave's response: Hilton staff aside, largely ignored.

Amy's response: totally ignored, but not because they didn't like us (in Egypt certain people didn't like us and you could tell) more because decades of communism seems to have bred away any collective form of manners, etiquette, or even simple politeness. They are really just a tougher people.

4- How was the food?

Amy's response: I totally fell in love with the bliny! That is what they call them, the word translates to pancake but essentially they are little crepes filled with apples, or cottage cheese, or mushrooms and they are fantastic! Other than that, a whole lot of beets, potatoes, and bad cuts of meat. And, it’s all pretty bland.

Dave's response: the food was fun in that it was considerably different from what we eat at home. That said, the pronounced absence of meat from the Russian diet would be unsustainable. They eat lots of mushrooms and beets and things I assume grow in the forest.

5- How long did it take to fly there and once you were in the city, how did you get around (taxi, walk, etc)?

Dave and Amy's response: The flight to Russia was 10 hours; back to the US was 11 hours. Moscow is 9 hours ahead of US Eastern time. We chiefly walked and used Moscow's metro system to get around. The metro was completely navigable and not entirely dissimilar from the DC metro system- which probably helped out. The Moscow metro was also safe, clean, ornate, and well policed.

6- Any travel advice/lessons learned you would like to share with others who might want to travel there some day?
Dave's response: Take an extra night's underwear and don't throw your toothbrush away until you get home.

Amy's response: take a rocking outfit for a night out, the clubs there exercise what they call "face control" in addition to a dress code. Which means, if they don't like your look, you don't get in. Scottsdale ain't got nothing on those people!