Leonid Brezhnev at the Wheel

When I checked into the Rus Hotel, they told me the rate I was paying entitled me to return transfer to the airport. I said that was great, except that I would be going to the river port when I left. They agreed to provide a transfer there as a substitute.

The day came when my cruise on the Mikhail Lomonosov was leaving, and I took advantage of the offer. The hotel provided a large van and a driver who could easily have passed for Leonid Brezhnev and who spoke only Russian. Both those factors made me a little nervous, but he seemed to know his way around. When we arrived at the river port the Lomonosov was nowhere in sight, and I had no idea how to find it. Finally, however, the driver was able to ascertain that it was docked directly behind its sister ship the Taras Schevchenko and was therefore invisible from above. He carried my suitcase a long distance to the ship and made sure I was properly installed.

Just goes to show, looking like Brezhnev does not necessarily mean acting like him.