Joe Hohmann posted:jay jay posted:The most memorable overnite, however, was in 1983 on the Red Star from Moscow to Leningrad, when I was in a 4-bed compartment with my GF and two young ladies from the Soviet Intourist Agency.
I'm curious how the 2 Intourist ladies were with you. We were with one in St. Petersburg about a year ago, and she kept telling KGB "jokes"...as if to say "See, we have freedom of speech". I'm wondering how "guarded" your 2 were back in 1983.
Joe, it was a screwup on compartment booking. The train was packed. The Intourist ladies were to have their own compartment, but no more two-bed compartments were available. We were asked if we would mind sharing. We didn't. However, they were very aloof from the tour group, despite speaking perfect English. They always ate by themselves. They were there to keep an eye on us, for the most part. This was when Yuri Andropov was the Soviet premier, and he had been the former KGB head. Perestroika was in the future. It was a great trip, in any event.
