moscow

June 4:

Tuesday afternoon in Albany as I write this: Monday night, Moscow time. Wow, the sites I’ve seen.
For a kid who grew up during the cold war, to walk in Red Square and tour St. Basil’s church is overwhelming. But some of old Russia remains. Despite all the openness here we were hassled over not having the right permit to shoot pix in the square; Seems the press permit we have doesn’t entitle us to take video pix in a federal area. OK.
But that’s the only snag so far. The people are friendly – almost everyone smokes – the women wear exceeding high heels, no running shoes to get you around town – few blue jeans but they seem to be catching on with folks over 20 - it stays light this time of year well past 10 pm – you’ll see old, babushka wearing women walking down a lane next to new subdivisions with brick houses you might find in any suburb in the states - and you’ve got to love this; we dined at a restaurant called GODENUV. Honestly. And yes, we ate Blini and Borscht.
Among our dinner companions, a couple who hail from Tula, Russia, Albany’s sister city. Now they live in Moscow. The husband, Oleg, spent 5 weeks in Albany, 7 years ago. He’s in I.T for a saving’s bank in Russia. When I asked if he learned anything special during his program at Troy Savings Bank, he shrugged his shoulders and said, not really. While he enjoyed his time in the states IMMENSELY, what he most loved were the Adirondacks and the ability to meet Americans, one on one. Says Oleg, the key to the Tula alliance is the ability for people to be linked – person to person. It’s not about governments – it’s about people.
We’re about at white nights; a time when the sun doesn’t set til way past 10pm. Despite being exhausted, it’s tough to settle down, but tomorrow we’ve got a lot of ground to cover, including a tour of the Kremlin. Then, it’s off toTula. (by the way the word for restaurant is PECTOPAH).