European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 17, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                R i s s i a Atrip continued from Page 7 at a bed and breakfast May serve cold fish and chocolate cake for breakfast and feel Hurt if you refuse. Try restaurants run by people from Georgia which supplies much of the Best food and wine to Moscow and St. Petersburg. Russians will recommend a careful look at the Bill which will be immense by their standards but reasonable compared with new York or Paris. Russia s dual Economy is an endless fascination. A Man s haircut can be had for the equivalent of 70 cents but a Glass of fruit juice in a cafe for foreigners May Cost More than $3. A Good seat for the opera or Ballet at the Moussorgsky theater in St. Petersburg goes for 40 rubles or 4 cents and movie tickets Are 20 cents. For the Bolshoi in Moscow however you May have to pay a scalper $20 or $30 for an orchestra ticket that Cost him75 cents. Just a few cents will buy entry to the Kremlin but once inside the Price of looking at the Czar s jewels might be another $17. You can pass. The International Herald Tribune costs $2, but two interesting English language dailies Are Given away in hotel lobbies. While a Buffet dinner and a performance by Alia Pugacheva one of Russia s most popular singers May Cost $250 a person some restaurants serve Good meals with wine for about $15.but choose the restaurant carefully. Some keep the food around until they sell it and refrigeration is not All that common. If you worry about the water and you probably should Beer canned fruit drinks and bottled Mineral water Are plentiful. American Colas have become almost a mania. Travel in Moscow is cheap. The subway magnificently designed but getting Grimy costs 10 rubles about a Penny. Bus rides Are Only 1 Ruble but you punch your own ticket on an Honor system so few people seem to pay even that. Apparently Only the very timid seem to fear being caught by a rare inspector and fined 500 rubles 50 cents. Taxi Drivers will ask High prices but Are willing to bargain especially with someone who can say in russian i have no  a russian speaking Friend argued a Driver into a trip Halfway across St. Petersburg for 2,000 rubles $2. Foreigners Are supposed to pay 7,000 rubles $7 to get into the Hermitage museum in St. Petersburg but russians pay Only 40 rubles and sometimes one will buy a ticket for you. If you Are Young and Wear jeans a Florida to shirt and dirty running shoes the current uniform you May pass for a russian. Even if you have no russian it is Wise to learn the cyrillic alphabet. The men s room is marked with an a which is the same in both alphabets but the one on the ladies looks like an x with a vertical bar Down the Middle. In the subway you need the cyrillic alphabet to Tell where you Are. And where else can you make a Telephone Call with an american Penny which is about the size and weight of the rare worthless 15-Kopeck Coin the pay phones were designed for that is if you can find a phone that works. Trio men sell Candy bars on a Moscow Street while another Vendor Sells a Chicken during a snowstorm. Yet the arh Vork inside of. Isaac s Cathedral in St. Petersburg is ornate. 8 stripes Magazine february 17, 1994