Russia 4 Novgorod

The guide at Novgorod, the oldest city in Russia, was Natalya.  She thought there was good and bad in all the 20th century Russian leaders – Lenin had put things right after the early revolution, Stalin led Russia to win the war even though 25 million Russians died.  There was political repression, but it was thousands, not the millions reported.  She also thought that Brezhnev’s time was a good time and there was no one with the leadership power of Putin.

Novgorod was raining and cold and only had two days of summer this year.  It’s a pity because the setting is quite beautiful.

The hotel was terrible.  In the evening we went to a concert and then out for dinner and I bought my second hand bronze plaque which was a gift to Sergei on his birthday from Victor in 1979.