The weather was good and I worked on my tan whilst sowing grass seed. The last day was spent clearing old documents from one of the cells in the prison, there were slides of Russian people from up to one hundred years ago, and in amongst all the dust and chaos you began to get a sense of old Russia, and of the amazing resilience in their country. The study part, involving trips to Russian palaces and cathedrals, revealed to me the amazing architecture that exists in St. Petersburg, a city which glitters with gold, marble, malachite and lapis lazuli. The only real problem experienced was the anger, at present, which some Russians feel towards the west because of the Kosovo Crisis. One of the more extreme incidents involved food being thrown at me from a boulevard cafe, shortly after Victor Chernymerdin wrote a letter to an American paper demanding that NATO pilots be tried for murdering Serbian citizens.
Crime is also a problem, on a train journey one German woman's bag was slashed open with a knife.
The other Russians on the train turned their backs, and the thief grinned broadly before alighting a the next station. These more disturbing incidents did not ruin my trip to Russia, there was too much to experience in the way of history, culture and vodka to allow my impression of Russia to be based solely the actions of these few people. I carefully drank only bottled water, but became ill and discovered that the Russians had been preparing food using unboiled tap water. I would also suggest that in the present political climate they bear in mind that they probably will encounter some unpleasantness with regard to the Kosovo crisis, I discovered that it was best to try to ignore it, and , when challenged, to say that I believed killing in any form to be wrong, and to refuse to comment further. People should take precautions against crime, especially on trains, but they should also remember that crime is a problem in any big city, and that such problems are not exclusive in Russia.