Well, against all good sense and advice, I’m off to the Evil Empire tomorrow evening. Flying from Houston to Moscow via Istanbul. Train to Belgorod with arrival Sunday afternoon.
I requested an apartment on the east-facing side of the building…I’ll let you guess why!
Here’s a nice pic of Uncle Vlad from the Russian consulate. Had to take it surreptitiously, so please excuse the angle. It is one of those creepy pictures where it looks like his eyes are staring at you regardless of where you are in the room. Hopefully, there will be a new portrait on the wall soon.