Recently my wife and I went to Russia. The Beatles song
Back In the USSR is now quite dated; it's just Russia now. We traveled on one of the Viking river cruises. Upon our return many people have asked us: "What was it REALLY like?" I'd like to answer that question now.
Actually, my preconceptions were pretty much blown asunder. I expected a strong military presence. (I lived through the
Cold War.) I expected everything to be sort of dark and gray. All the women would look like stocky peasant women with bandanas on their heads. The men I expected to look like the guys that killed DeNiro in 15 minut
es. On their streets I expected to see those droll appearing Russian automobiles.
But, alas, it was not like that at all. As tourists there were probably slums we did not see and perhaps some other unsavory bits of society. The large cities we visited were much like America's large cities, the same hustle and bustle and lack of adequate parking. There were lines at McDonalds at lunch time, and teenagers dress and act freaky and weird just like here. There was hardly any military presence except for honor guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Moscow. Entering and exiting the country was easy, no security hassles. Many of the women were beautiful and very Nordic in appearance, especially in St. Petersburg. I did not see many Nikita Kruschev look-alikes. We saw very few people with tattoos. The palaces of the czars rival any in Europe. Can you imagine a room paneled in amber? There's one Catherine's Palace near St. Petersburg. Imported cars are driven almost exclusively in Russia's large cities, primarily German made automobiles, but the police in Moscow drive Fords. Vladimir Putin is their hero. Why? Because he put food back on the grocery store shelves. After Gorbachev's disastrous venture into capitalism the people were hungry. Another big surprise for me was that Red Square was not as large as I had imagined. I remember watching the parades of hundreds of soldiers, tanks, and missile launchers on television.
One thing I did notice was the male chauvinism exhibited when my wife asked directions of a security guard. He turned to me to answer her question.
