Interesting thread.My first trip to Europe was in grade 13. I guess it would have been 1982. I was 18 and had been saving to backpack throughout the UK in the summer to celebrate being finished school. An opportunity came up to go to the USSR with a school group and I jumped at it.
This was near the end of the cold war. Tourists were not common in the USSR. Security was intense. Western companies were still trying to figure out how to enter the Russian markets.
I had never flown in my life and during that 12 days I went on 10 flights.
I kept a journal which I still have. It is interesting to read the perspectives of my 18 year old self.
We were supposed to land in Moscow but some army guys needed a flight so we unexpectedly landed in Leningrad (St Petersburg now) instead. No one was expecting us so our government appointed tour guide was no where to be found. Well, presumably they were in Moscow waiting there. I remember the chaos of the airport, no one speaking English, and trying to figure out what was happening, and how we'd get to Moscow. In hindsight, our chaperones must have been having a conniption.
We finally got to Moscow and we met our guide. She was assigned to us for the entire duration of the trip -and she stuck to us like glue. Of course being 18 we thought it was a great sport to try and lose the guide.
On one of our escapes we ended up on the famous Moscow subway. Our adventure took a turn when we realized all the writing was only in Cyrllic and none of us could read it or knew the name of the subway stop where we had started. The Moscow subway is HUGE! Finally my friend who was Polish was able to communicate a bit with someone . . . enough to figure out where we needed to go.
The black market was thriving and people were desperate for western goods. When you went into the country you had to show how many rubles you were bringing in and when you left you had to show how many you had left as well as the receipts for everything you had spent. There'd be trouble if they didn't match up.
When we were in Red Square a guy wearing a Toronto Blue Jay cap approached us. We figured he was from Canada like us. He was not. Later a bunch of us snuck out and visited him at his apartment. He was a seller in the black market. He wanted our jeans and our Polo/Lacoste shirts. My roommate traded most of the contets of his suitcase for a Russian army uniform (which he had to wear home under the clothes he had left to try and hide it). Later we realized just how few places there were to use those rubles that we received for selling our clothing. It made for lots of vodka being purchased.
At the Kremlin we, bring 18 and foolish, raced to the walls and put our arms up against the wall as if we were under arrest. A passing soldier raised her gun and gestured to us to move along. One of our friends snapped a picture at the moment and it REALLY does look like we were under arrest with a gun pointed at our backs. My mom lost it a bit when she saw that.
One night we went to the American Embassy - passing through incredible security - it was surreal to be in the middle of Moscow listening to music we knew, playing pool, drinking beer, and eating burgers and hot dogs.
There were lost of complaints about the food. No one wanted to eat Russian food. Why go to Russia if you weren't going to eat the food and explore the culture?
We sure explored the drinking culture. Vodka and beer were everywhere. Everywhere including all over my passport - every time I pulled it out subsequently the agent smiled a knowing smile and sent me along. It was my first passport.I still have it. It still smells of beer.
We stayed in Moscow, Leningrad, and Kiev. I recall Moscow as drab,serious and full of self-importance. Leningrad was beautiful with art and culture. Kiev was like a breath of fresh air; colourful. It may be because it was spring and it was so much further south ...who knows?
We had many organized meetings with students our age. All of them told us how wonderful the communist system was - it was as if they were reading from a script which they likely were.When we snuck away from our handlers and wandered behind the facades of the fancy buildings you could see from the street we realized that underneath the surface there was a different world; a world where everyone was NOT equal and clearly some folks had fewer opportunities.
After we left the USSR we traveled to Brussels for a few days. What a difference between the two worlds! It was Easter, flowers were blooming, shops were FULL of chocolate treats, and the bars were full of life. I still have a beer glass that I 'liberated' from one of the bars and pull it out from time to time to enjoy a cold one.
It was an amazing experience.
After the trip I got so wrapped up in university, then paying off student debt, that I didn't make it back to Europe until 2006. I've been back 12 times since then. I still like to explore, chafe at being guided too much, try to experience as much of the local culture as I can, and yes, break the rules from time to time.