The Russians talk straight at you. They look you in the eye and are not shy. They are embarrassed about Stalin, proud of Peter the Great and apprehensive about the future. In Iceland the people are proud of their past as well, but they are wildly enthusiastic about their present and future. They love water and rocks.
All roads lead to hot water factories.
They mine heat from the earth and it is so ubiquitous that they even heat the streets to keep the snow clear. It is a myth that the country is very green and the people are unusually gorgeous. The country is in fact covered with snow and most of the ground is black rock. The people are nice looking but hardly stunning. In the country around St. Petersburg the grass grows like it is on fire in the long summer days.