Revealing Russia

From Eric Bergeri's and Dan Hudson's introductions to Revealing Russia

… On the way to the hotel, our driver yelled angry words at other drivers. The sounds of this language, the neon lights outside, the limousines with blonde beauties and men dressed in black and the snow blowing in the blizzard gave us a strange feeling of calm before the storm. Russia was about to show us that there is more to it than meets the eye. …

… "Have you eaten dinner?" Mary asked. "No." "Good, come." So all six of us piled into a tiny car and sped off though the streets of Moscow until we reached an apartment complex not much different from a thousand other Russian apartment complexes.

We untangled ourselves from the car and headed into the apartment building, where we climbed up an old, dark stairwell covered with Soviet propaganda posters until we reached a door on the second floor. I thought we were going into Mary and Andrey's place. Then Andrey mumbled something into an intercom and I heard the door click.

Mary looked at us and said "password." Much to my surprise, behind the door was a restaurant lounge bustling with a very cool atmosphere. Places like this don't officially exist. After a fantastic meal and many drinks, we spilled into the streets of Moscow. It was 3 a.m. and that's when the real adventure began. …