First four- Red Square.
Last three- different style hotels: foreign designed and Russian designed.
I'll let you guess which is which.

Last three

These are cool Charlie!! Thanks for the glimpse into a world most of us will never see in person.

Tim

You are very welcome, Tim.
And thanks to you for looking and commenting.
One of my main purposes in posting travel images is for that very reason. Circumstances permitted me to do a lot of traveling, and it's my hope that others might enjoy seeing my interpretations of those far-away places they may not get to see for themselves.
Charlie

For me it is the first, forth, and the last two charlie

Morris

Thanks, Morris.
They are all my babies, so I favor them all equally .
Charlie

Thanks for sharing these! Great pics and a window to a world I'll never see!

To those of you who say you'll never see this part of the world: US and Russia have recently ratified a new visa regime, and travel to Russia is easier than you might think. Though you still need a visa to travel to Russia and there is a small cost to it, Russia is within reach and easily so if you fly Aeroflot from New York or Los Angeles.

Those are direct flights and they are very competitively priced. Their safety record while flying Airbus or Boeing aircraft, is quite good.

In short: Russia is well within any American's reach, one just has to want to make it happen.

The Kosmos hotel is a Russian/French collaboration. The Ukrania is pure high Stalinist architecture, and one of the "seven sisters". Your first Kosmos shot, is my favorite of them.

I love the colors in the building on the first shot, but my favorites are the second, third, and fifth. Thanks for sharing these, Charlie!

Bev

Thanks Del, Siri and Bev.
I traveled to the USSR just before the collapse of the communist government, and things were pretty messed up.
In all my travels except China and the USSR, I traveled 2nd class solo, making up my itineraries as I went. Twenty+ years ago, it was extremely difficult for an American to do that in those two countries.
In China, I led seven tours of American groups (using national and local guides). For the USSR I had to join such a tour.
Independent travel is now much more possible to either country. There is, however, another serious consideration- the language barrier. I don't care what the news tells us, I seriously doubt if many people in those areas speak English- except in the first-class tourist places. If you were- for example- to take public transport from a cheap Moscow hotel to the rail station to take a second-class train to St Petersburg, I would be shocked if you could do it with any kind of ease whatsoever.
The idea that "everybody now speaks English" is pure fiction. There are very few countries where that can be said, and China and Russia aren't among them .
Charlie

Charle, I always enjoy the posts of your worldly travels but I often wonder when the were taken. Any chance you could add this piece of info in the future?

The photos are wonderful as usual, particularly #5.

Glad you enjoy the posts, Jerald.
As mentioned in my previous reply, these were taken just before the collapse of the Soviet rule.
But you're right, I often don't mention when my shots were taken because: in most cases I don't remember the year, and in almost all cases they were taken from 10-40 years ago. And every time I write "Taken about 25+ years ago," it just makes me feel old.
It's bad enough to BE old, but I don't need constant reminders .
If you look at my comments, there are often words that allude to when the shots were taken. (Give or take a few years.)
Charlie
To further rationalize my neglect on the above, take London as an example. Over a 20-year span, I visited London several times. To keep track of when I took which photograph requires organization- a trait I was never blessed with .

Amazing photos, Charlie. How safe is it to shoot Red Square at night?

You are exposing "Chrome" right? KodaChrome has the year embossed in the mount. Now Ektachrome is another story.
Always enjoy your images, Charlie, and I am glad you put a time frame on them. Thanks for sharing your life.

Tom

nice charlie! i saw many of these sites on my trip to russia last summer. these shots bring back some good memories. i second the notion that travel to russia is a great idea and well within reach of many. i felt totally safe even as i carried my rig and tripod around at 2am in st. petersburg by myself. no police problems whatsoever. no one asked to see our documents at all, it was painless. yes, you have to get an invitation (form a hotel normally) and a visa, but it is manageable these days. my dad works full time in moscow (so we had free place to stay complete w/ tour guide!) and he says things have really opened up in the last ten years. i flew this russian airline called "transaero". flight was $770 round trip direct from jfk in nyc. brand new plane, good food. RIDICULOUSLY attractive flight attendants as a nice bonus. my gf gave up trying to stop me from staring at them half way through the outgoing flight.......

dorian