Russian Roundup

---

Hi All, just thought I'd give a quick review of Russia, especially for anybody who may be thinking of going. Go for the scenery, for the history and the experience of somewhere very different. Don't go for the food, or the people or an easy and stress free time. I have to say that we really enjoyed our time there, we were probably expecting a grey gloomy country where we would get hassled all the time by pickpockets, hawkers and dodgy cops but we had none of that and found it plesant in that way. The weather was amazing, the scenery as we travelled eastwards across Siberia was stunning.
I was particularly impressed by how Russia does things; if they want to build a road or a subway line they just go and do it, no feckin' around and breast feeding shovels, like at home (M3 protesters and the like stay away from Russia), they built things quickly, bigger than they need them and build them to last.
Our view of Russia is definitely tainted by the western media and I think that's why we were so plesantly surprised, We all hear about how the politicians and big businessmen are draining the economy to fill their own pockets, well that's definitely crap, the government is spending huge amounts on public infrastructure, education, and now they are planning on increasing the monthly wage of public workers from $480 - $600 up to $1,500. I have no doubt that the big boys are looking after themselves but its definitely not the situation that the media had prepared us for. There are absolutely massive renovation projects in the big cities taking crumbling wrecks of buildings and bringing them back to their former glory, a great sight to see. The economy in Russia is booming at the moment, mainly due to massive increases in oil prices and the fact that 40% of Russias exports are oil and gas. This boom can be easily seen by the cars in the street. Most of the cars 5 years old and older( most are well over 10 years) are small, cheap cars like Ladas (which are still in production), Skoda, Proton, Hyundai etc and most of the new cars are big, expensive and flashy like BMW's, Mercs, Lexus, Porshe and plenty of 4X4's as well.
There were plenty of great things about Russia that make it worth a visit but for most travellers going somewhere is about more than just looking at what's there. Meeting the locals, having the craic and trying the food are also important reasons to visit somewhere different and unfortunately this is where Russia falls down big time. The locals are quite nice and I'm sure if we spoke Russian we would have interacted a lot more but (in most cases) they really don't try to mix or get to know you and would as soon completely ignore you and that's the locals; the service personnel in shops, restaraunts, hotels, on public transport etc are 100 times worse. We found them quite rude, slow, unhelpful and really incompetent, at the start we didn't mind but after 2 weeks we were kinda glad to be moving on as we felt that tey were really taking away from how great Russia was. Also the food was not worth writing home about, so I won't!
So in all Russia, especially St. Petersburg and Moscow, is worth a visit if you like your travelling, can put up with the hassle and don't minf the 5 hour queue for the visa.
We decided we'd rate how good looking the people are in each country as we go along, so Maeve is giving Russian men a poor 2/10 I assume shes taking into acout their lack of personality into that. I however, as a man, am not and am giving Russian women a good 9/10.

---

Photos

Magical Night
The Russians know how to put on a show

Group Shot
Staff of Brendan B's have a day at Lake Baikal

The Hermitage
No half measures here

Kicking the tyres
Checking out my new ride

Russian Service Staff
Helpful, compenent, friendly Russian Service Providers, Not!!!!!!!!!!!

Comments

[Kev]

BMW's, Mercs, Lexus, Porshe and plenty of 4X4's
No mention of A5s! The coolest car in the world - mine is lovely!