IMPERIAL

Idyllic St. Pete's

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August 22nd 2005
RUSSIA Russia for me conjures up images of grayness, of communism, and thoughts of the Cold War. I guess more recently I think of the Yukos Oil debacle (whose head is now entertaining the idea of running for Parliament from jail) or of the war in Chechnya. None of these things painted a particularly rosy picture in my mind, and additionally I had heard that Russian people were generally quite r ... read more

Europe » Russia » Northwest » Saint Petersburg

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Founded in the 12th century, the Principality of Muscovy, was able to emerge from over 200 years of Mongol domination (13th-15th centuries) and to gradually conquer and absorb surrounding principalities. In the early 17th century, a new Romanov Dynas... ... read more