[cloudmountain]

When my husband and I went to St. Petersburg in 2008, we had to have a wheelchair for my dear hubby. And so he was able to use one. I pushed it.

The curious thing was that our woman TOUR GUIDE had to surrender HER PASSPORT for security to MAKE SURE that the wheelchair would be returned. They care NOTHING about ours.

The USSR and "mother Russia don't seem TOO FAR removed from each other. Just an observation.

[Jack Hydrazine]

It’s common to surrender your passport at hotels in Europe, too, when staying there overnight.