(excerpted from Doug Burton's trip diary)
Thursday 3/22/79 Moscow, Russia, USSR
We awoke this morning to foggy, cold weather in Moscow. The hotel has beautiful rooms with a nice restaurant. Tanya said we were close to downtown: only one-half hour by Metro, which by Moscow standards is close. The bathroom here is very interesting: it is all one big shower. The floor has a drain in it and the shower head is removable so you can hold it and spray yourself. The toilet and sink are right there with the shower and nothing separates them. While everything in the hotel is modern, it is typical of Soviet construction standards (shoddy).
After
checking in we took a bus tour of the city and exchanged money. In the afternoon
we visited the Moscow Institute of Engineering which specializes in civil
engineering and construction and is apparently the leading college in this field
in the USSR. It includes twelve faculties, the two largest of which are
construction and heating. Some 10,000 students now attend the Institute compared
with 6,000 in 1970. During the summer 2,000 students spend two months in a
“labor camp” where they put into practice what they learned at school. The
engineering program lasts five years and 50 percent of the students are women.
After the formal speeches there was a question and answer period and we told
them a little about Tech. This visit was more interesting than the one in
Leningrad because the students coordinated it instead of the faculty.
At
dinner, for the first time, we had dessert -- two large cookies with some sweet
icing in between, like a large vanilla Oreo. After dinner some of our group went
downtown to familiarize themselves with the subway but I decided to stay in the
hotel. Outside of the restaurant I met an Irish chemical engineering student
from the University of Dublin. He and some thirty others were touring Leningrad
and Moscow (all ChE’s) We talked downstairs for a while and then went up to meet
the others. He said his friends were partying with a group of Norwegian girls
who were also staying in the hotel. All the Irish students wanted a “Love An
Engineer” button and we talked until 1:30 a.m. about religion, science, deja vu,
and Uri Geller.
My main impression of Moscow so far is “huge.” It is a city of 8 million people compared with 4 million in Leningrad, but the differences are incredible. It is almost like comparing Richmond and New York. So far I prefer Leningrad even though our hotel here is nicer.
Friday 3/23/79 Moscow, Russia, USSR
This
morning we had a tour of the Computing Center of the Academy of Sciences. It is
the first computer center of the Soviet Union and is committed to research in
such fields as fluid dynamics, radiation gas dynamics, optimal control, and oil
exploration. Their computers are a little slow. One of the laboratories is doing
research in speech and pattern recognition. They kept stressing computer
reliability in order to compensate for the slowness. The programs are entered in
English and the output is in Russian; the line printers must use both Cyrillic
and English. In another room they had a graphics terminal (which consisted of
American hardware and French software) and a program for drawing elements in
designing new circuits.
In the afternoon we visited Moscow State University. By then a number of our people were going “nuts” from the official visits, particularly the speeches. Later Dr. Saric spoke about our University and there was an exchange of gifts. Some of our students spoke on various aspects of academic life, such as scholastic fees, dormitory life style, etc. Gwen spoke about the honor system and some of the Russians were very impressed. The Russian students took turns telling about their summer activities and then we exchanged buttons.
We
had an earlier dinner tonight so we could get over to a party arranged by some
Soviet workers from a television factory. We were still an hour late because our
bus driver got lost. Once we arrived, there was a good deal of toasting with
vodka and we all exchanged gifts including the “Love An Engineer” buttons. The
band was fairly good and we danced. When the band took a break, Mike LeClere,
Bill Daily, David Stein and I improvised a little on “Amy." Later I found
someone who spoke German (I’m getting better). We did circle dances and they
started playing American rock songs. Everyone appeared to have a good time,
dancing, drinking or talking. Language was hardly a barrier at all. About 10:30
we were supposed to leave but our bus was stuck in the snow and they almost tore
the bumper off trying to get it out. Eventually we pushed it loose and everyone
was yelling “droozhba” (friendship) as we boarded. We sang some more on the way
to the hotel (even “Show Me the Way to Go Home").
Saturday 3/24/79 Moscow, Russia, USSR
I overslept and missed breakfast this morning because I was up till 2:00 a.m. We visited the New Maid Convent (Novodevichy Convent) this morning. It was here that Peter the Great imprisoned his sister Sophia, and here that Boris Gudinov hid from the Czar. We went into the Russian Orthodox Church during a service. There were lots of icons on the walls and frescoes on the ceiling. There were many older Russian women who kissed the icons as they entered and left, and in the sanctuary the patriarch of the church led the congregation in chants and hymns. It was impressive.
In the evening we saw another circus. Many of the acts were the same as in Leningrad but there were some good new ones, such as a bear act and a magician’s act. The circus started off with a fantastic trapeze act and included music by the Electric Light Orchestra and they even used “The 39 Lashes” theme from “Jesus Christ, Superstar.”
Sunday 3/25/79 Moscow, Russia, USSR
It
was snowing this morning when we woke up, and as the day progressed, it became
steadily worse. We toured the
Kremlin during
the morning and there was a long line waiting to enter. While touring the
Armory, Tanya said
“You can see why we had the Revolution” and I could because there was so much
gold, silver, and precious gems wasted on ridiculous frivolities, like wine cups
with small fountains, coaches, toilet items, chairs, etc. Tanya tried to help
Billy take a picture (photographs were forbidden) but the guard prevented him.
We then went outside and walked around in the snow inside the Kremlin. We saw Uspensky Cathedral where the Czars were traditionally crowned. From the Kremlin Tanya took us downtown to a cafe where we obtained some delicious ice cream sundaes with chocolate, nuts or jam. We have the evening off so we can pack for tomorrow. A few went downtown tonight to again see the changing of the guard at the Lenin Mausoleum. We did see it in the afternoon and it was a very solemn ceremony. At about 3:55 p.m. the guards came out from the Kremlin, marched over to the mausoleum, and just as soon as they got to the door of the mausoleum, the clock struck 4:00 p.m. I was impressed. The ceremony is supposed to be even more spectacular at night, but I’m just to tired to move.
Monday 3/26/79 Moscow, Russia, USSR
We are leaving Moscow today so we had to be out of the hotel by eight this morning. We went to a fancy restaurant for breakfast: the hotel Arbat. It was beautiful inside. Dad (Dr. Saric) commented that business must be slow for them to take a group of tourists as part of a package tour. From there we visited a factory which produces machinery. It is one of the oldest in Moscow, built in 1898. Then we saw the factory workers club which has a really nice lounge and theater (paid for by workers’ “contributions”). We had to sit through another period of speeches and on the table were propaganda booklets (in English) for souvenirs. Dad got a little mad about it all and made some sarcastic comments (which completely went over the heads of the Russians) about only being prepared for technical discussions, not political ones. (We all caught it, though, and felt proud of him for saying so.)
We started to get a pool up on the departure time of our plane, but never did and if took off exactly on time anyway. There is one thing that really puzzles me: why does Aeroflot have to play loud music over the intercom during takeoff and landing? There was no way to cut off. On our final approach to Riga we passed over the Baltic Sea and it looked as if we were landing in the sea. Riga is very old but I like it much better than Moscow. We had had a “bag supper” earlier but some of us were hungry so after we checked into our hotel we went out. Our hotel looks a little dumpy from the front, but the rooms are pretty good. The only problem is that there is only one shower per floor.
A
group of us went into the city looking for a restaurant. After some unsuccessful
attempts, we finally found a restaurant in the Astoria. Seven of us had dinner
-- some delicious meat salad and rolls and three bottles of champagne. The
waiter spoke English and when he gave us our bill, he said either 29 rubles or
$20 (which is about half the price in dollars of 29 rubles), so naturally we
paid in dollars.
