American in Russia - General Observations

The world is a mysterious place filled with wonder, joy and sorrow. It's what I love most about travel, escaping to a new country and feeling the pulse of its culture and people. There was no country more mysterious to me than Russia. Having grown up at the end of the Cold War I vividly remember the collapse of the Soviet Union and seeing tanks, large demonstrations and other chaos in Red Square in the years and months following up to this historical event. Russians, to some extent, were always perceived as "the enemy" but I never viewed them that way because people and politics - well any normal person knows the two can be readily separated in most cases. So what's the "pulse" of Russia and its people? This varies greatly depending on the region in which you're exploring. I'll write later about particular areas we visited, but for now I'll share some general impressions. ( Read more... )