Wandering Lizard
Russia

A Trip to Russia - Cruising the Inland Waterways - Spring

One evening the fog became so thick that the captain slowed down and eventually had to stop the ship for about fifteen minutes. The next morning we awoke to heavy mist. Very moody and the Russian landscape seemed to become even more mysterious than it had been before. Standing on deck with a cup of hot coffee and one's imagination it was easy to get past Fleming and move on to Dostoevsky and Tolstoy.

One of the books that I recommend be reread before making this trip is Tolstoy's War and Peace. It gives one a feel for Russia that the history and guide books can not provide. Don't worry about dates or historic relevancy of the character's attitudes or much of anything else intellectual. Give yourself over to the story and absorb the texture of the culture. It is a great read and will set the stage emotionaly for much of what you will see during this trip. If, in the age of the internet, it is unrealistic to recommend anyone reading a book with over a thousand pages then at least watch King Vidor's cinematic version (although that is no real substitute.)

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