“Russia is most certainly an odd place”

Tim Newman has written about his recent trip to Russia - he visited both St Petersburg and Kazan. His report is well worth a read, but what really caught my eye was his description of Russia - perhaps one of the most accurate I’ve seen. It perfectly captures the spirit of a country that remains in transition.

Russia is most certainly an odd place. In no other country could you wake up on a train which has stopped at 2am in some God forsaken village with an outside temperature of -10 to find somebody banging on the carriage window trying to sell you a chandelier. Or a giant vase. In no other country have I seen a bridesmaid wearing leather thigh-boots, and in no other country have I seen a visitor to a monastery on her way to collect holy water wearing white knee boots and a white plastic miniskirt.

But this is Russia, and these things are to be expected. Similarly, it came as little surprise to hear a Tatar taxi driver with Muslim prayer beads hanging from his indicator stalk telling me all about a new nightclub in Kazan where you can watch football with a strip-show at half time, and asking me what I thought the score would be in the late kick-off between Bolton Wanderers and Zenit St. Petersburg because he fancied having a flutter to the tune of 700 roubles. This is my kind of Islam.

Now that’s what I call a multicultural country.

Tagged as: Culture