I've been to Russia several times, but trip I think of most was when I worked there on a research project in 1991. This was a very tumultuous time -- between the time I left the U.S. and the time I returned, a military coup attempt failed, the currency totally collapsed, and the Soviet Union ceased to exist as an entity. The picture on the left shows a sun setting on an exhibition celebrating economic achievements during the Soviet era.

By the way, Russia is a totally different country than it used to be. In my opinion, it's as free as any Western democracy and any kind of goods that you might want to buy are available.

Russia has always really done a few things well. My personal favorite example is the Moscow Metro. As far as I'm concerned, it is second to none -- I thought this the first time I went to Moscow back when the Communist Party was still in the saddle, and my opinion hasn't changed in the least during my other visits (most recently in 2003).

The Moscow Metro is clean, beautiful, safe, and its capacity is simply mind boggling. During the busiest hour of the day, over 3 million people got on the Metro. The picture on the left shows what the busiest station looked like during the busiest hour. Note that these people are all moving, not waiting.

Most Russians live in fairly drab apartment buildings like the ones below. This is not because they are drab people, but simply a function of the fact that there was little money and apartment blocks are an efficient way to house people. This picture was taken in Chernogolovka (a city about an hour from Moscow), but it could have been taken anywhere.

The picture below demonstrates that some things look much more dramatic than they are. If you watched CNN the day I took this picture, you'd think that pitched battles were going on in the streets and that a huge ideological struggle between freedom loving democrats and oppressive communists was taking place.

In reality, most people just want to pay their bills, and will believe in whatever system lets them do that. The craziness shown on CNN that day was just a few seconds of mayhem perpetrated by a few wackos who were quickly subdued by both the crowd and soldiers together. A bunch of people standing around being sensible does not make exciting news, so they didn't show that part.

After the failure of the first military coup, a huge rock concert was held at Tushina airbase to celebrate. Many big name bands such as Metallica, AC/DC, Pantera, and the Black Crowes were there. The crowd was estimated at 600,000 people.

It was a fantastic concert, though rioting unfortunately broke out. If you have never been caught in a riot, it is a pretty scary experience. I was about 75 yards from the stage, and this is what it looked like behind me.