Profile: Russia

Meet Russia
- Largest country in the world, get a map and look top right
- Dissolution of Soviet Union and isolation that came with Iron Curtain occurred in 1991

Visited: Moscow, Sochi/Adler, Krasnodar
Sidewalk Safety: Fine until you step onto a street..cars, cracks, potholes
Stray Dog Rating (out of 5): Two mutts in Sochi and a small brown bird

Ranting Impressions:
Perhaps not polished but fully functional and sound, in a way that is decidedly different than in the West. The older generation, having lived behind the Iron Curtain see little need for English or the outside world. That said, capitalism has taken firm hold and can be seen everywhere. Decidedly expensive, on par with Toronto or worse, at least in the cities visited. Some young people, my generation and younger, are now attempting to learn English and are friendly. Personal space isn't really considered and queues are mostly surging masses. People are sometimes late but otherwise infrastructure is rather efficient.
Dishes are meaty and oily but some pastries are worthwhile, including cabbage stuffed breads.
The projection of the cities seems important, for example decrepit or under-construction buildings are usually covered with a building sized sheet depicting what it should or will look like. Roadways are congested but there is some semblance of order. Sidewalks are smooth and safe for the most part, unlike some other potholed Eastern European countries.
Obviously a vast country (with nearly 20 cities over a mill. population) I barely scratched the surface though I found it interesting that Krasnodar, for being a smaller city, still showed obvious signs of wealth. May be interesting to get out into a village, up into Siberia or check into the apparently beautiful St. Petersburg although Western European travelers say it doesn't look all that different from home (so perhaps not worth the visa rigmarole)