When I was invited to judge a dog show in Moscow, I didn’t think twice. It’s been my dream to see Russia up close after reading about the country, its history and culture. The Russian invasion of Ukraine is a serious consideration, but at my age, this opportunity may not come again in my lifetime. Thus, the Matt Munro song kept playing in my mind like an earwig.

Along with my wife and son, plus a family friend who is also an dog enthusiast, we planned tours of Moscow and St. Petersburg after the show with the help of a local tour guide. Moscow is like a typical European city but with very wide avenues and boulevards, impressive buildings and monuments, as well as greenery all around. Stalin had all the streets widened at the cost of tearing down buildings, it is said.

The highlight was the Kremlin, which is a fortified citadel which includes the seat of government, and four cathedrals including St. Basil’s Cathedral, the multi-colored-multi-onion-domed structure that is a symbol of the city.

The cathedral’s interior, Byzantine Revival style, was fabulous. The walls were covered with mosaics depicting scenes from the Bible, which were the only way to teach people then since most of the population were illiterate. The mosaic technique was from the Greek Orthodox Church from which the Eastern Orthodox Church was derived. The columns and posts between the panels were covered in gold leaf adding to the grandeur of the church. Massive ornate chandeliers illuminated the interiors.

The other cathedrals were likewise decorated in the same ornate style. It was hard to determine which was more beautiful than the others.

Another unique Moscow feature is its subway system, built and designed during the Soviet era (1930s to 1950s), which stations are the most beautifully decorated among all that I’ve seen around the world. Each station had dome-shaped, ornately decorated ceilings and walls that were unlike each other. The lighting fixtures were likewise unique to each other and are more likely to be seen in palaces than a lowly subway station. There were paintings and mosaics of proletarian scenes most of which featured Lenin, and occasionally Stalin. Even the ventilation outlets are beautifully decorated. All stations were clean and sanitation was excellent compared to dark and dingy, smelly New York subway stations.

St. Petersburg was a four-hour high speed train ride away. Like Moscow, it is a beautifully designed European city with a functioning tramway system. The architecture is classic and the Hermitage its crowning jewel. Founded by Empress Catherine the Great, it is a complex of several buildings including the Imperial Winter Palace, which has an enormous collection of art of which only a small percentage is on display at any time. Our tour took over four hours and words can’t describe the grandeur and beauty of its interiors, which rival and to my mind, exceed that of the other European palaces I’ve visited. No expense was spared, from ornate ceilings to beautiful parquet floors in stunning designs.

We toured the Russian Museum which features mostly Russian artists, who are at par with their Western European counterparts.

The following day, we visited two churches-turned-into-museums. St. Isaac’s Cathedral, built in the mid-19th century in the late neoclassical style, with 112 massive red granite columns. Its interior is as impressive and can compare with the most beautiful cathedrals in Western Europe.

The Church of the Savior on the Spilled Blood was erected on the spot where Tsar Alexander II was fatally wounded in an assassination attempt. It is in the Russian Empire style similar to St. Isaacs Cathedral. Similarly, it is wall-to-wall mosaic decorations.

The next day, we toured the Catherine Palace outside St. Petersburg, another great example of Russian imperial residences.

All these magnificent structures were built by imperial decree (by Stalin in the case of the subway system) on the backs of the long-suffering Russian peasantry and with the taxes collected from them. Now, they stand as legacies which attract millions of tourists (at least before the Ukraine invasion), and an efficient and beautiful transport system bringing hard-earned currency to the country and the people.

I wish I could say the same for the taxes we pay to the government. Instead, we are treated to the tawdry spectacle of ghost projects, collapsing bridges, and substandard flood control projects that cost the lives of ordinary citizens and impose misery on millions of taxpayers. While, on the other hand, entitled high government officials feast on caviar and champagne, fly on private jets and helicopters with their families in tow to fabled destinations, and dress in designer clothes and bling-blings.

At the end of the day, we have nothing to show but misery and death. At least, the Russian people have these enduring structures as legacies which they are now benefitting from.