European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - October 6, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tourist glimpses a stories and photos by Linda Howley curiosity is the reason Many people visit the Union of soviet socialist republics Thal s Why i went on a we Klong Lour to Moscow and Leningrad this past summer. About 16 people who signed up with information. Tours and travel Lor tha trip were refused visas for reasons nol Given so there were Only eight in my group including the Lour guide. Being Somo whal More curious about everyday soviet Hie than the others my group i Only visited the sights i was interested in. The soviet Union s in Louril travel Agency has total control Over hotels Lor foreigners Lour guides and itinerary but it can t Force tourists la stay with the group tourists can Only travel 15 Miles outside the City they Are visiting but i did t know this at the time. I took the bus to. Beach on the Gulf of Finland of Miles outside o Leningrad the Moscow hotel we stayed in was one of seven bizarre pseudo gothic structures erected by soviet dictator Joseph Slaim it was decorated in Tacky 1950s Lea Market style. Tourists Over the years had folded deep impressions Mlo the mall resses. The food was worse than any High school cafeteria dry meat overcooked potatoes Walery Beer and smoked fish. Enfranca to the Moscow notel and dining room was liar Vlad to Gools Vii passes the pass had to be shown to a russian woman who would Lake the pass and return the hotel key. The key had to be exchanged for the pass when leaving the room. I wondered Why russian Wimbon lingered outside the building Al night a pakistani businessman said they managed to sneak Inlo the hotel Lor girls such As perfume of cred by lore Iron businessmen. Soviets circa t allowed in Leningrad hotels either bul Security 15 in tha Leningrad hotel we slayed in was new and the Loori was Beller. Each hotel has a Berlioz a souvenir shop that accepts Only hard currency Money that can be exchanged on the International Market. They sell Western Beer and soft drinks. Soviel chocolate papier mache objects dolls guitars mandolins and Balalaika Amber jewelry lacquered wooden boxes fur hats and postcards Ordinary soviet citizens can get Western food clothing and electronic equipment in special shops that Lake foreign currency bul the Money is hard to get and the prices Are Steep. A video cassette recorder costs about $1,710 Over Hail a year s salary for an average worker. Westerners easily Ide Lilied by their modern clothing. Will be approaches by russians asking to Exchange Money or Deal on the Black Market. There is Little to gain by its since rubles can t be used in the Beri Zokas or Laken out of the country. Since most shopping will be done in the Heri Zokas. Tourists need Only change about 520-30 Inlo rubles. Foreigners can Send gifts to soviets but soviets must pay duty often what the article costs in the soviet Union. Still it s a Legal Way to obtain goods. Most people take the Black Market route to get what they want. Travelling businessmen sell goods to middlemen who Supply their friends. Black marketeers ask westerners if they have anything to sell. Russians befriend visitors and get girls in return. By tha amount of people in sneakers jeans and t shirts proclaiming Kansas City royals Florida Stele and " semite National Park you d think everybody is dealing in the Black Market. Even a grandmother had a Marlboro country slogan on her plastic bag. Russians Welcome any gifts even Small ones such As pens. Gum. Calculators Nylon stockings plastic bags toothpaste makeup lighters cigarettes and uniquely Western trinkets. They especially like gifts with advertising written on them Coke it s the real thing smoke Camel cigarettes or University of new  tha German tour guide who accompanied us ram Frankfurt gave nylons to the Moscow hotel employees for calling us taxis. Gift giving should be Subtle. One american tourist in my group kept giving pens and gum to hotel employees taxi and bus Drivers for no reason at All As though she was giving trinkets to the natives. They at gave her very surprised looks. A russian who checked passes in the dining room refused to take her gifts. I on the other hand was offered Money by a hotel employee for the Orange soda i bought in the Berlioz a. I gave it to her and she hid it in a newspaper 1 wag asked for gum several times by Young russian boys at Moscow tourist sights. Moscow i the nucleus of soviet culture policy Industry and transportation. Ii is a rigid City Wilh police on every Corner and Volunteer police patrolling the neighbourhoods. Muscovites seemed to be in a hurry like in All big cities except everyone seemed sad and afraid to look at the tourists. Close to eight million of these people cram into endless rows of nearly identical Moscow housing complexes. Millions More Are on yearlong waiting lists for apartments Yel people keep migrating to the City for work or the Hope of a better Fife. Married couples gel apartments sooner than singles but they still have to live Wilh their parents or in Laws unlit their names come up on the list. During the construction Binge after world War it Many old neighbourhoods and churches were destroyed. The Low churches squeezed in Between monolithic buildings Aro relics of a bygone Era gum state Universal store is the largest department stare in Moscow. Although the Media gives the impression Hal the soviet Union has rocketed Inlo the technological age gum clerks still tally with an Abacus. The Kremlin is the fortress of the Al Cist government but inside its Walls is Cathedral Square three old cathedrals filled with icons and topped Wilh Golden domes. Outside the Wall is red Square marked by the history museum the Lenin mausoleum and St Basil s Cathedral with its colourful onion shaped domes. Authorities say Lenin s body la real and not Wax. I thought it looked like Wax. Citizens wait for hours in a solemn orderly procession to get a glimpse of Lenin. There is a faster line for foreigners. Cameras lenses and flashes must be checked across the Street As no objects Are allowed inside the mausoleum. Visitors tile by the eternal flame of the Tomb of the unknown Soldier on the Way to the mausoleum. It is e tradition that brides leave their bouquets there Lor Good Luck in Case their husbands go to War someday. Buried behind the mausoleum Are communist notables including Lenin s wife. American journalist John Reed cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin and Joseph Stalin. The common Graves of workers who fought for soviet Power in 1917 Are there also. The tour group took the night train from Moscow to Leningrad. I found Leningrad More relaxed than Moscow the people smiled More often end even looked Al foreigners. Although Leningrad is the Cradle of the 1917 bolshevik revolution it can t escape its Imperial past. In 1705 Czar Peter the great moved the Capitol Horn people bring new Pora and coot to Amto St Basil s Cathedral in a Moscow landmark. Getting to know meeting russians was easy Whan away from the Lour group Volodya dressed in Western slipped up next to me As i was walking Moscow. Are you from the West to asked me. Which country we went to the Dom Nigl House of books and t bought some propaganda posters the Cia control the lives of the american people and people roust Kolf the soviet Navy is prepared to  an of Man Rudt pushed us out of his Way maybe because he heard us speaking English. A russian thinking Volodya was a Westerner asked if he had anything to sell. Volodya 20. Studies history at Moscow state University there was t a lot i could Tell him about 11 West because he d been meeting westerners on tha Street for two years. Volodya wanted to answer my questions about his country and verify facts he d no from other westerners. I got this watch from an american. He said it $30. How much do  it costs All the russians i met wanted to know How much1" things Cost in the West. How much is a Merce How much does a House Cost in the states Page 14 the stars and stripes several russians were interested in learning colloquial English. Please write Down All tha