Around the USSR in 14 Days

In 1975 I got an offer I couldn't refuse .... a TWO-WEEK, all paid-for voyage around the Soviet Union. 

I and 15 other college graduates packed our suitcases and flew, literally, to Moscow (from New York) with the Russian airline Aeroflot. 

We stayed in Moscow several days, at the Ukraina Hotel, visited all the museums in the city, went to the Bolshoi Ballet. toured the city  and  in general, had a ball.  Then we were taken by train to Leningrad (now St. Petersburg). We  visited the palace of Peter the Great, Catherine's Palace, the fabulous Hermitage Museum, the Neva River and the  famous Avrora ship.  

After a few days we again took the train, this time to Kiev, in the Ukraine, and then on to Sochi, the popular summer resort city of Russian leaders.  That's where they had (have) their dachas, summer houses. 

Here are some pictures from this memorable trip:

The Hermitage Museum in Leningrad

On the  AVRORA ship, which is now a museum. This ship survived the Russian-Japanese War. 

The Moskva River. Moscow. 

On the train from Kiev (Ukraine) to Sochi, on the Black Sea. 

The Neva River in Leningrad. 

The Winter Palace of Tsar Peter the Great of Russia.