What is your perception of Russia?

I had visited St. Petersburg quite a few years ago. I found that most of the Russian people tended to keep to themselves. One of the tour guides that led us around town was close to the same age as I was. We talked about how each one felt about the other in the late fifties and early sixties and we discovered that we both were afraid of the same things. It was a whirlwind day and a half, and with the rain falling it made things seem dreary, but that was not the cities fault.