tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25230932.post865980361112225046..comments2023-10-06T10:10:06.982-04:00Comments on La Russophobe: The Sunday Travel Section: Russia, a Guide for the Cautious TravelerLa Russophobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05672264388217953086noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25230932.post-30946866218334426362008-02-06T05:53:00.000-05:002008-02-06T05:53:00.000-05:00Just one question re: Conventional Wisdom Travel A...Just one question re: Conventional Wisdom Travel Advice.<BR/>Guys, are you sure it's not Rwanda you're describing?<BR/>This is kind of my impression, from my lame Moscow perspective, LOLAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25230932.post-86603527815708638312008-02-04T21:48:00.000-05:002008-02-04T21:48:00.000-05:00When I was in Moscow a few years ago, they had a s...When I was in Moscow a few years ago, they had a scam that had been running for many years, in which street vendors would sell tourists Soviet-era military medals, which would get confiscated at the border (sometimes with fines as well), then the customs agents would sell them back to the street vendors. A lot of otherwise normal Russians I talked to thought this was the funniest damn thing in the world. And they wonder why they have such a problem with corruption, why people don't want to come visit them... etc.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25230932.post-12121378704872368982008-02-02T05:10:00.000-05:002008-02-02T05:10:00.000-05:00A few years ago, a friend of my expert on tourism,...A few years ago, a friend of my expert on tourism, went to a tourist fair in MoscĂș. He bought on the street some reproduction of religious icons, and when he was going back home, the police stop him at the border and supposed the incons where authentic, but they were not. He spent 3 days on Jail with no food and just 1 blanket. He is still depressed about it, after a few year the MoscĂș Goverment apologyse him, but he had a very bad time, next year to it I could had go to Russia, but I did'nt.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18178213011935928126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25230932.post-60325874388464708942008-02-01T20:16:00.000-05:002008-02-01T20:16:00.000-05:00IJ: Thanks for introducing me to Marquis de Custi...IJ: Thanks for introducing me to Marquis de Custine in your epigraph. My reaction on following the link to his entry in Wikipedia and learning about his "Russia in 1839" was like Mr. Toad's on first seeing a motor-car: "Egad! What have I been missing?!" <BR/><BR/>Custine is the kind of Russophobe who gives genuine respectablity to the name. Best Custine line from the Wiki article: Russian nobility [read: New Russians] are like "trained bears who make you long for the wild ones." Bravo!!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com