As a young guy during the Cold War in the eighties, I have seen lots of news on TV with tanks and rocket launchers parading on the famous Red Square.
Now, it was finally the time to see it from up close and to feel the atmosphere at the political centre of one of the world's great powers.

After this, the bombastic city of St. Petersburg, built to prove that Russia is indeed a cultural power as well, compared to the rest of Europe.