In Russia

We've done too much for a play-by-play, and a week is just enough time for a handshake with Russia. There have been many surprises. The Russians are very proud of their history. I wonder if that has always been the case or there is a concerted effort to reclaim the past from the ideological straitjacket of what people here call "the Soviet time." Like their counterparts in China, the current generation knows only a relative growth of freedom and increasing prosperity, although both are unevenly spread.

The Russian Church has certainly made a huge comeback. Old churches are rebuilt and refurbished and services seem to be well-attended.

Even the forewarning weather reports did not completely prepare us for some of the blast furnace heat we experienced in Moscow on Wednesday. We drove out to the countryside on Tuesday through the fire zone. A pall of smoke hangs over the whole region.

Here in St. Petersburg the weather is cooler and the air cleaner. This city is very Western as billed. Stalin's pernicious influence on architecture and design spared this historic gem, and so it is reminiscent of Paris and Prague—truly a beautiful city.

The Russians are helpful but a bit aloof, the food is good but pricey, and the vodka is cheap. We have a few more days and back to the USA.