On the way:

The square:

Rock Church – a church built into the rock:

Uspenshi Orthodox Cathedral:

More here.

Exterior:

The Amber Room where photos are not allowed. Ahem:

The modest little ballroom:

Many more photos to come later.

Chatting with a Warsaw resident.

Me: Does anyone look back to the days of Communism with longing – does anyone miss those days?

Resident: Oh yes, some do. Those who are not political may miss the security of the Communist era.

Me: Security?

Resident: Yes, you didn’t have to worry about where to live, you were given a job and were paid even if you didn’t do it well; health care was free.

Me: Who would be the people who miss it?

Resident: Mainly people who don’t think. Also, for example, people in a small town where the factory closed after the fall of Communism: they would all have lost their jobs. So they say that things were better under Communism. But mainly people who don’t think.

Me: Do you think Communism will ever return to Poland?

Resident: – rolls eyes – I hope not.

In Minsk there is no litter, no graffiti, no homeless people sleeping on park benches and almost no crime or unemploymnt. The question is, what happens to a litterer, homeless person, or petty thief in this socialist paradise? No-one wanted to tell me, but someone did point out that, unlike Russia, the KGB is still in operation.

The country’s president, Aleksandr Lukashenko is a dictator: political opposition is not tolerated, but religious expression is, apparently.

Health care and education are free or at least cheap and almost everyone has somewhere to live – a 2 room apartment; almost everyone also wants to leave and those who can do. There are a few wealthy people, of course and everyone else is – not poor, since poverty does not fit into the socialist ideal – impecunious, all equally so.

In summary, Belarus serves as a model for the Arcadia that Fred Hiltz and his cronies are eager to construct.

Strolling along the bank of the Moskva river this morning was like standing downwind from a smouldering campfire. The city is enveloped in smoke from the huge forest fires raging nearby. The heat isn’t helping: it has been 38 degrees or higher for over a month now.

There is definitely freedom of the press in Russia (only English language papers – see below): a local Moscow paper has the headline, “Putin Sang Songs While Russia Burned.” It seems that the fire departments are not as well equipped as they might be and Putin hasn’t helped much. In talking to some Russians, it appears that the Russian language papers are far from free: they are all state owned and the stories are all heavily scripted by the state.

The traffic in Moscow makes Toronto’s rush hour appear quite serene. There are striped cross-walks painted on the road, but cars don’t necessarily stop at them. The hapless pedestrian must step out into the road, fix the eyes of the driver of the oncoming smoke belching Lada with a steely stare and cross; any show of fear will be interpreted as a sign of weakness and it will be all over. Yes, Ladas are still made in Russia – you don’t have to wait 13 years for one now, though.

Moscow is one of the most expensive cities in the world: the standard room rate at the hotel where we are staying is $750 per night. Fortunately my wife is part Russian and thanks to her Russian Mafia connections, our rate is much less. Mercifully, it is one of the few air conditioned buildings in the city.

Photos later; I am typing this on a Kindle – it is painfully slow but it does appear to have Europe-wide free cell Internet access.

Here’s a view of the Moscva before the smoke really settled:

Here it is pretty thick:

Less thick here at Red Square: