I haven’t been to Russia since my friend Aileen and I went in 1998. We were the only Americans we saw during our 10 day trip, with the exception of two American women in St. Petersburg who were adopting Russian children.
There were no toilet-toilets in St. Petersburg train station. And The Hermitage in St. Petersburg had the filthiest toilets I’d ever experienced. (Also sans commode.)
I remember we saw cars during that trip that we’d never seen before. And there were still bread lines. And one night, we paid $50 to go to the Bolshoi, but as it turns out, our tickets were only worth 25 cents.
But I remember the Metro in both cities was awesome. Totally so. And so art deco and lovely and strong. It makes me cringe when I think what Chicago’s underground looks like. We could be so much more beautiful.
I remember we ate a lot of pelmeni (dumplings) and drank a lot of Baltika. And I remember Red Square was one of the most powerful places I’ve ever been. I did laps around it for hours.
And I remember thinking at the time, “Hey, America. Why don’t you ever go anywhere?” Because the world? It’s pretty freaking cool.”
You should visit Moscow It’s not cheap, but it’s still pretty awesome.
