5 ms·

Nice story, but as somebody who lived in 1982 in the USSR, I should note that there was no first class on flights between Moscow and Leningrad (St.Petersburg),

Nice story, but as somebody who lived in 1982 in the USSR, I should note that there was no first class on flights between Moscow and Leningrad (St.Petersburg), incoming and outgoing international calls did not work in automatic mode - all calls were switched through operator, only Beriozka stores accepted foreign currency, GUM was local currency only.

ikonst 9y ago
Yeah, I was somewhat surprised by those. "Classes" on domestic flights in the USSR?! And yeah, GUM was (and still is) a department store for Soviet citizens - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GUM_(department_store) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GUM_(department_store).
- thriftwy 9y ago
  Actually I won't be surprised about classes, given that railway trains had up to 5 different classes of carriages.
  - googamooga 9y ago
    No, long-distance trains had four classes: SV (two beds per cabin), Coupe (four beds per cabin), Platzkart (six beds per cabin) and Sitting (no beds, just benches). This classification goes back to Tzar (pre-revolution) times. It has nothing to do with air transportation which has been developed in Soviet era, where everebody was equal. edit: minor mistakes.
    - thriftwy 9y ago
      Weren't there also Soft ("мягкий", two posh beds per cabin)?
      - googamooga 9y ago
        This is exactly SV ("спальный вагон"). https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A1%D0%BF%D0%B0%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%BD%D1%8B%D0%B9_%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%B3%D0%BE%D0%BD https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A1%D0%BF%D0%B0%D0%BB%D1%8C...
        thriftwy 9y ago
        Apparently it's a different thing: https://www.ozon.travel/help/railway/preparation/trains/ https://www.ozon.travel/help/railway/preparation/trains/ As far as I understand, М has private bathroom but СВ doesn't. It's confusing but I'm sure I saw them sold at different prices.
        googamooga 9y ago
        Are we discussing 1982 or 2017? :-) There were no bathtubs on the trains in 1980-s in Soviet Union...
pandaman 9y ago
Nor were there stuffed potatoes in street kiosks or kvas from wooden barrels.
- 4WIW 9y ago
  I think the author mixed this up with his second visit. Not a big deal IMO.
  - pandaman 9y ago
    There never had been kvas from wooden barrels in Moscow in 1982 or after. Kvas was sold from metal trailer tanks like this one: http://mtdata.ru/u22/photo30E5/20831353979-0/original.jpg http://mtdata.ru/u22/photo30E5/20831353979-0/original.jpg till 90s and then it was gone (I left in early 2000s though I doubt wooden barrels with a cup on a chain appeared later). Stuffed potato is not something Russians eat, least something so popular to be sold on the street. So, again, it was not sold in 1982 or later. Blinchiki is something that could have been possibly sold since Russians do eat them. I've never seen them sold on the street myself but I cannot possibly say it's as ridiculous as stuffed potato.
vadiml 9y ago
He probably does not remember the details. It was long time ago and he was under a lot of stress
ta98789878 9y ago
Ah! That seems to explain the name of this store then: http://www.berezkaboston.com/ http://www.berezkaboston.com/

ikonst 9y ago

Yeah, I was somewhat surprised by those. "Classes" on domestic flights in the USSR?! And yeah, GUM was (and still is) a department store for Soviet citizens - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GUM_(department_store) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GUM_(department_store).

thriftwy 9y ago
Actually I won't be surprised about classes, given that railway trains had up to 5 different classes of carriages.
- googamooga 9y ago
  No, long-distance trains had four classes: SV (two beds per cabin), Coupe (four beds per cabin), Platzkart (six beds per cabin) and Sitting (no beds, just benches). This classification goes back to Tzar (pre-revolution) times. It has nothing to do with air transportation which has been developed in Soviet era, where everebody was equal. edit: minor mistakes.
  - thriftwy 9y ago
    Weren't there also Soft ("мягкий", two posh beds per cabin)?
    - googamooga 9y ago
      This is exactly SV ("спальный вагон"). https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A1%D0%BF%D0%B0%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%BD%D1%8B%D0%B9_%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%B3%D0%BE%D0%BD https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A1%D0%BF%D0%B0%D0%BB%D1%8C...
      - thriftwy 9y ago
        Apparently it's a different thing: https://www.ozon.travel/help/railway/preparation/trains/ https://www.ozon.travel/help/railway/preparation/trains/ As far as I understand, М has private bathroom but СВ doesn't. It's confusing but I'm sure I saw them sold at different prices.
        googamooga 9y ago
        Are we discussing 1982 or 2017? :-) There were no bathtubs on the trains in 1980-s in Soviet Union...

pandaman 9y ago

Nor were there stuffed potatoes in street kiosks or kvas from wooden barrels.

4WIW 9y ago
I think the author mixed this up with his second visit. Not a big deal IMO.
- pandaman 9y ago
  There never had been kvas from wooden barrels in Moscow in 1982 or after. Kvas was sold from metal trailer tanks like this one: http://mtdata.ru/u22/photo30E5/20831353979-0/original.jpg http://mtdata.ru/u22/photo30E5/20831353979-0/original.jpg till 90s and then it was gone (I left in early 2000s though I doubt wooden barrels with a cup on a chain appeared later). Stuffed potato is not something Russians eat, least something so popular to be sold on the street. So, again, it was not sold in 1982 or later. Blinchiki is something that could have been possibly sold since Russians do eat them. I've never seen them sold on the street myself but I cannot possibly say it's as ridiculous as stuffed potato.

vadiml 9y ago

He probably does not remember the details. It was long time ago and he was under a lot of stress

ta98789878 9y ago

Ah! That seems to explain the name of this store then: http://www.berezkaboston.com/ http://www.berezkaboston.com/