Up Close and Personal

I reflect often how different my experience would have been if I had gone to Russia as a tourist. Walking down the streets of Moscow, most people look very serious and stern. There is little or no eye contact as people pass on the street. As you approach a stairway, Metro car or escalator, Russians push to the front. Traffic is terrible and drivers are constantly jockeying for position. I'm afraid from these observations that I would have considered Russian people to be unfriendly and rude. How wrong I would have been.
As I have said before, Russian people are the friendliest, most hospitable, most generous people I have ever met.