It must be awesome to live in russia as a rich expat

@Gingerbreadspice it would appear that you are highly skilled in understatement.

@Yulianna I went to St Petersburg 16 years ago on a cruise ship from England. We were in St Petersburg for 2 days. Awful place. Backward unfriendly people, rigorously difficult getting through security customs, damp and cold and not particularly developed.

@Gingerbreadspice yes... backward people, downtrodden.

@Gingerbreadspice I went to Russia , then Ukraine a few years ago. Russia was dreary, Ukraine felt normal.

@walabby normal? i take that as a huge compliment.

@Yulianna That was the best way that I could describe it. It felt....... civilized. Russia did not.

@walabby that sums it up well - even though i must admit to bias... we are a country of Europe, russia is a country of Asia.