During coverage of the Sochi Olympics, music for Moscow Nights came on and I found myself singing the Russian words to it, which kind of freaked me out. I had visited Russia as a teenager and we had learned the song to sing at the schools we visited. Funny how things we learn when young stick in our memories forever, emerging when triggered.
We didn’t travel far when I was a kid. The furthest place I’d been by the time I was 14 was Saskatchewan and I’d never been on a plane. Internationally I might have gone to Washington State but I’m not even sure about that.
When my junior high school principal boldly decided to take a group to the Soviet Union, specifically Russia, shockingly I got to go. Russia had just opened itself to tourists. My first plane trip was a 13 hour flight from Vancouver to Helsinki, a two hour layover and then another hour or two flight to Moscow.
Memories of that trip:
Strange food – little bowls of salt on the table, mineral water, potato salad with dill pickles, rumours of horse and whale meat when unidentifiable dishes were placed before us, runny eggs still cooking on their hot plates at breakfast, tea served in clear glass cups in ornate silver holders, weird brown drinks from vending machines dispensed into glasses not paper cups.
Oppressive rules – don’t take photos of the many soldiers on the streets, don’t wander around on your own, wait in line for 2 1/2 hours to see Lenin’s body whether you want to or not, be careful what you say in your room because it might be bugged, don’t sell blue jeans or makeup on the black market.
Cultural events – the 2nd night there we went to the Bolshoi Theatre to watch the Bolshoi Ballet. Sitting in the dark in a comfortable seat I could not stay awake because of jet lag and slept through it. I really enjoyed the Moscow Circus with soccer-playing, unicycle-riding bears. Real bears. By the time we went to the opera, to quell a teenage revolt, the teachers said that those who didn’t want to stay for the whole performance could leave at the first intermission. An international incident ensued – we had offended our hosts. I still don’t like opera.
Art – we went to the Hermitage/Winter Palace in St. Petersburg and though I can’t tell you what art I saw it was like nothing I had ever seen before. I vividly remember the silk wallpaper and the gilded fountains of the Summer Palace.
Russian school children – we went to schools and met kids our age and they spoke impeccable English, I was impressed because I only spoke English and probably not as well as they did. Of course, we only met the smartest kids who spoke the best English.
Educational – we studied some Russian history before we left. I wrote an essay on Leo Tolstoy. We learned a few words of Russian which I also still remember.
Trading stuff – we were told to bring chewing gum to trade with people. In return they gave us pins. I still have my collection of pins.
As travel should, that trip opened my eyes to a foreign world and left lasting impressions.
Now here it is your moment of mosaic. Roman Mosaic from St. Alban’s, UK
I remember those coats, it looks like someone else had the same one!