The black car was a 1991 Volga; that was the year the car became the choice of cab-drivers, rather than of
members of the Nomenklatura. The car emblem was a red-and-black stag. The driver looked unhappy and tired; this was understandable, considering he had just driven up from Petersburg, about 200 miles away. It was a warm day for Russia, and his shirt showed the results. His name was Boris, and the name certainly suited him: he was husky with a gruff, gravely voice, had reddish h… Continue

What can I add to what's already been said about a country with over a thousand years of recorded cultural history, and that had covered 1/6th of the globe? All I can do is what they told many years ago, when I was an umpire for high school baseball games in New Jersey -- "Call it the way you see it". So that's what I've tried to do here. The good stuff. And the bad.
I've heard it said that no one comes to Russia for the Weather. Nor for the food. Nor for the Language. Nor for the Roads...
Well,… Continue