RJ Fensterman had a dream of visiting Russia and one day his dream came true. He planned a Russian river cruise, but not with our company, unfortunately, and presumable because he did not find out about us when he made the booking. However, we were fortunate to help RJ with another part of his travel itinerary - to the Golden Ring of Russia. While on his trip, RJ took notes of his observations and he shared it with us upon returning to Virginia We welcome you to read his interesting diary, unedited and uncut, full of insightful observations and witty remarks. | 05.18.2008 Tourists Paradise Don't know how I had energy left after this busy day; but when we got back to the Vega, I decided to take in the Izmailovo Kremlin... | |
| 05.18.2008 Architects and Writers Part II The Gorky House/Museum is located near the Patriarchs Pond neighborhood on the Garden Ring, an area made famous by another writer, Mikhail Bulgakov... | |
| 05.18.2008 Architects and Writers Part I The Boyars museum was a labyrinth of stone underground armories, low-ceiling oak rooms and steep narrow stairways, just what you would expect for the Middle Ages... | |
| 05.18.2008 On to the Middle Ages Yelena led us around the seemingly-endless red-brick walls of the Kremlin. Looming before us was an almost-finished hotel; it's architecture was certainly unusual.... | |
| 05.18.2008 Beautiful Square The few blocks turned out to take a lot longer than we expected. First off the blocks were not a minute apart like they were in NYC when we were young... | |
| 05.18.2008 Metro to Moscow Dmitri led us into the chrome and glass lobby of the Vega, and took care of the reservations (most of the staff were not very fluent in English)... | |
| 05.17.2008 Remember the Olympics There are 5 hotels in this complex built for the 1980 Moscow Olympics. You remember that one -- the US didn't come here, because there were Russian troops in Afghanistan; now there are US troops in Afghanistan, and here we are... | |
| 05.17.2008 Constructivism What a different world it would've been, if Stalin had been just an architect and urban planner, and Hitler had been just a commercial artist. Alas, history is what it is... | |
| 05.17.2008 Welcome to Moscow The young man holding the sign could well have passed for an American, except for the accent. His name was Dimitri... | |
| 05.17.2008 CUE THE CAMERA... The plane, a Boeing 767-300, descended through the clouds, revealing a dry runway under a gray sky. It had been a long flight, but that was to be expected... | |
