See, that’s what the app is perfect for.

Hi! Thanks, I appreciate the kind words!

As for the novel, this is a broad question! There are basically 70 years worth of novels. I don’t know what you’re looking for, so just a few off the top of my head:

— Two Captains by Veniamin Kaverin
— Dinka by Valentina Oseyeva
— Twelve Chairs by Ilya Ilf and Yevgeny Petrov
— One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Also, check out these ancient posts here and here.

Hi! For vintage shopping I recommend in Moscow and in St Petersburg.

There are quite a few antique shops in both cities too (esp. St Peters), but they’re more on the pricey side.

As for recommendations, if it’s your first visit to Russia - just start with the touristic places. They’re both huge cities with so much to see. The Village made excellent guides before the World Cup that I can recommend, here: , . Personally, I use Google Trips to download basic guides for the cities I’m visiting. It also has useful info like transport system, tipping practises, best shopping locations etc.

Good luck! I hope you enjoy your time in Russia ❤

I’m not often in Berlin and only know @ddrmuseum, will hopefully pay them a visit in a couple of months. Also the Edeka grocery chain often has a Russian aisle - that’s where I got my buckwheats and condensed milk. (My German friend I was staying at was very mildly impressed, but I think they’re ~essentials~.)

Other than that - do we have any Berlin folk who could help? 

Hi! What an interesting theme for a thesis. Are you in the USA? I don’t have any personally, but I found some interesting collectibles/ephemera online, I’ll post them separately. Good luck with your thesis, I hope you smash it :)

This is a tricky question. I don’t feel very confident speaking for all 76 million adults of Russia. If I were to generalize, there’s no hatred that can often be found in countries you mentioned. Russia was not occupied. People remember the good things that were then (you can’t live a life and not have any happy memories). It was what it was! It’s where we come from. I’d say that the Soviet past for us is often devoid of political context. Soviet just means something that was before 1991. If you decide to strike up a political discourse, you can meet very different opinions, varying from idolization of Stalin to a total rejection of the Soviet system. 

I’ll tell you this, my parents, who lived a good chunk of life in the Soviet Union, still sometimes get breathless at the amount of comfort and consumer goods they get to have access to. Lengths they had to go to raise us kids… it breaks my heart.

Ooh thank you!! I had zero hopes of Russia winning if I’m honest, so I’m in a pessimist’s paradise now. Akinfeyev is a hero!

For a few years, until it collapsed

At the local collectors’ meeting :)

If you don’t speak languages, aren’t too keen on travelling abroad and are generally more invested in your immediate surroundings rather then global problems - you have a good chance of doing very well in the existing regime. We’ve got enough jobs and coffee shops to sustain a good life. 

No problem! I thought maybe you meant Telegram which was in fact banned recently. They’d probably ban the entire internet if they could. The return of the Iron Curtain is one of my biggest fears.

With everything that’s been going on we’re probably on a highway to it, but no - not for now.

No.

None for harp unfortunately, can I interest you in some balalaika instead? :)

I had a bunch of those riddle type books back in the day. I checked the two that I have to this day, but this one wasn’t in them. Sorry I’m no help.

I checked the packaging, and yes, it is indeed from Greece. Cool! :) Now, there better be a sticker inside, or else.