Russia has a bleak history .. producing bleak literature .. Look toward Dostoyevsky. Although, in music they seemed to have a bright side .. The "Russian Four" wrote some of the strongest, bold and brilliant music, when onc considers the classics and, lest we forget the faggot Tchaikovsky. And, with ballet .. nothing worldwide could touch them. Fascinating people ..

It's interesting that you mention beer being served at McDonald's .. my first time to the Czech Republic .. which wasn't that long after the Iron Curtain had fallen, I was surprised when someone wanted to have a meeting at Micky-D's. It was located in a very historic area of Prague .. not to far from Charles Bridge ...Three stories and the third story was darkly lit (such a thing possible?) lounge ..as if from an old American steakhouse. On all floors, they served beer and wine. The Second was brightly lit with full views .... people would wile away the day drinking coffee, beer and wine. The third story was an area where the full menu was offered. However, the prices were higher, especially for the beer and wine.

When flying to Prague, in those days, you had to fly into Amsterdam, sometimes there was a ten to fourteen hour layover. The McDonald's there, served beer. The McDonald's in Rotterdam (once a beautiful and vibrant city .. not so much any more) also served beer. The same in Frankfort, Germany .. but the highest end McDonald's that I have ever seen, was the one in Prague.

Shortly after I left the floor .. looking around for some way to not lose all of my money .. I had a friend, who now resides Puyallup, WA. He was a subcontractor on the new US embassy in Moscow. There were requirements that most of the labor had to be USSR labor. The carpenters would come to work wearing a suit .. all were furnished a locker, where they would change into white overalls and caps. Besides wearing a suit they all carried a briefcase. In the briefcase would be bottles of vodka .. not A bottle .. but bottleS.

So, a strange land .. and with his invitation, I secured the requisite visa and it was off to the USSR .... I stayed there about three weeks. I saw the carpenters and their briefcases, inclusive of contents. When I was there, one of Mike's jobs was overseeing three separate drywall crews. One crew of five .. in one day .. when I was there hung six sheets of drywall .. not hung and taped .. just hung the sheets into the already in place steel studs. We went hunting for one crew, one day .. They were all asleep in a storage area, sleeping on stacks of sheetrock. TOO funny.

I wanted to see Kiev, so one weekend we took a flight. It was Aeroflot. The passenger compartment did have a first class, right behind the pilot's cabin. There was no door into the cabin .. rather, it was simply a curtain. On the way, we hit some turbulence and the pilot cane on the speaker system. I spoke no Russian, other than davai, dubrai utra, etc. ... but Mike was fluent .. all of the Russians assumed, by his accent that he was from Moscow. So, the pilot explained the turbulence and how we would seek higher altitude. As we were making a rather steep climb ... a bottle of Stoly came rolling out of the pilot's cabin .. I kid you not ... I swore, other than the return to Moscow, that I would never fly Aeroflot again.