Blogs from Rostov on Don, South, Russia, Europe

The journey which I have been dreaming for a long while did not start very well. My friend who wished to join me could not come because of his visa problems, secondly I was very very close to missing my plane from Istanbul to Rostov, and thirdly a corrupt officer sticked me and a few other Turkish citizens to the Rostov airport for a few hours just for his wish for getting some "small presents" like a bottle of whisky and a handful of cigars. At last he got his cigars and we were out of the airport at 4 am in the morning. After a while I would hear the Russian saying "Odessa mama, Rostov papa" which is said for the Rostov’s famous and rich criminal history. This officer was only paying his respect to ... read more