Little Summary - Russia Tour 07

A tourist's view of Russia surely isn't a real experience. At best, it's a carefully contrived program to acquaint a person with those places and objects tourists like to see. It's like a trip to Disney Land in Anaheim, CA - a little touch of the soil of the United States, but not a real exposure to the people or culture of the US.

Be that as it may, it was the realization of an unspoken dream to be a tourist in Russia. For my generation, the USSR, headed by those in Russia, has been an in-our-face experience. It was Russia we raced against in exploration of space. It was Russia who was the co-protagonist in popular thriller novels of my day, novels by Ludlum and Le Carré. It was Russia who adopted Communism, the antithesis of the American capitalist way of life, and the fear of Communism cost many Americans their freedom of expression under the Joseph McCarthy inquisitions in the 1950s.

Seeing any part of Russia with my own eyes, hearing citizens of Russia while on their soil, and walking on the streets of any part of Russia with my own feet was a monumental experience for me. As an American from my era, Russia represents a close relative whose behavior we whispered and wondered about - a black sheep, perhaps, who we discussed at family gatherings.

For our tour of Russia, the places and objects a tourist likes to see consisted of castles and magnificent buildings in St Petersburg (a most beautiful city) and Moscow (the heart of Russia, as Russians like to say).

Following the pictures I posted along the way, a friend jokingly remarked: I guess we know where Solomon's gold went. How true. Gold leaf is everywhere, and the architecture is something I could only try to imagine from reading fairly tales as a child! Such grandeur is unbelievable, but it exists in Russia. My mind can't comprehend how someone could create designs so perfect! As an example, this hallway at the Hermitage is amazing. Every detail is designed to delight the senses. What genius!



It's been a while since we toured Western Europe (and we usually browse the villages and ruins, foregoing the grand castles and buildings, but I don't recall seeing anything quite so grand.

A real hope of a trip like this is to try to see how people live. That's difficult, because that's not the nature of this type of tour, and the people we see most are our tour-mates. My gentle observations are that:

Young women like fashionable clothing and jewelry, just as we do in the US.


• Russian women are movers and shakers and will be instrumental in guiding the country as it recovers from the all-empowered Communist state. I believe (and hope, in this case) the power of the people is equal to the power government, just as in the US. (No, I don't believe the government in either country is "of the people, by the people, and for the people." ***


• Russia is more Western than Eastern, and it seems to be more a part of Europe than of Asia.


• Russian people are more like US people than different from US people.


• Among those who are movers and shakers, there's great energy and drive to build Russian democracy quickly.


• Politics is politics, whether in the US or in Russia.

*** Although stating political or religious beliefs is often an invitation to being flamed by people with acute patriotism, my personal belief is that we elect people the democracy that ideally would create that "of, by, and for the people") who come into office with their own agenda, or they soon develop their own agenda; and that agenda is not necessarily the people's agenda. But, then, knowing that we disagree about what the agenda should be, or the solutions might be, even in our own polite household, I'm not sure I have any answers except to say that good politics must begin at home. My statement, then, is more of a truism than a commentary.