Meme expectation / Reality Russians are gruff folks who rarely smile | Smiles, handshakes and hugs wherever we went Russian service and hospitality industry isn't great | Every single hotel we visited went to great lengths to make us comfy; far more superior in terms of service to any place we've visited on mainland Europe Russia has rampant racism with even occasional neo-nazi incidences | Russia was the least racist country I've ever visited (30 so far), never even once heard a word or a stare that made me feel weird Russia has weird soviet style horror playgrounds and poor infra | Many, many playgrounds with v good equipment where my kids had great fun playing with Russian children they had just met and couldnt even communicate with (!), roads and other infra was better than many parts of central Europe and even parts of the US Russia is a hyper-nationalist country with Putin being a near dictator | I visited the naval day parade in Petersburg and when Putin was going around on a boat waving to the crowd, the applause was polite but nowhere fervent like a Trump, Modi or Xi address, many people I spoke with were frank and open about areas where Putin was not doing so well also (economy for instance) Crime is rampant in Russia with streets teeming with thugs and hoodlums | Never felt even slightly unsafe despite taking the moscow metro or walking the Petersburg pier at 1 AM, police were everywhere and quite vigilant as well as helpful Russia is a country of vodka guzzling violent men and families are quite broken | Everywhere I went, I saw families with kids and seemingly happy youth, in rest of Europe where churches are being converted to bars, churches here they had very good attendance