Back in America

The white nights in St.Petersburg - a time when it only gets dark around midnight and at that, not completely dark and by 2 the sun is rising. The bridges in St. Petersburg are raised at night from midnight or so on, to let the barges and other large ships, through. During the white nights it's a big celebration. People head to the water to watch.. fireworks are exploded and for folks on the water, they cruise from bridge to bridge. Great fun, actually.
The palaces in St. Petersburg are overwhelming - no wonder the peasants revolted - they were starving and the czars were livin' large.
Actually, St. Petersburg is stunning. As Putin's hometown it's gotten plenty of cash to rebuild, especially since the G-8 summit was held there last summer. I suspect if I visit again in 5 years it will be much more Parisian - and why not, much of the city was modeled on Paris more than a century ago. But they really have to get a hanlde on traffic - gridlock is everywhere and entering an intersection means taking your life in your hands.
Aeroflot - yes, I flew the friendly russian skies - more like a train with wings. No overhead bins, just a shelf - snack is a mini-homemade looking sandwich. Love that they serve the tea right from the kettle. The steward was a stony faced fellow who ended his pre flight chat with a very serious, OK?
Getting from one airport to another to head home and only know some 20 Russian words - an experience - but I managed. While most Russians are not warm and fuzzy on the street, one on one or if you need help, they're quite friendly.
And now home - coffee tastes better than I remembered, drinking water right from the tap, a luxury - Russian water's just not safe, even the locals don't drink it -
As for Tula - Tulans really like us - they like that we bring ideas and reinforce that what they're doing is either right or heading in the right direction - forward, that is.
They know they have an environment problem but push it to the back of their everyday consciousness; probably not sure what to do about it. Had a good talk with one official about efforts he'd like to see get underway by collaborating with Albany.
Tula is a lot like many upstate cities that became shabby as industry moved away and are now trying to clean up and reinvent themselves.
But when it comes to hospitality .. it couldn't have been better. Spassiba (thanks) for the memories - and 'dosveydanya (bye- see ya later).