A
n ardent fan of cities and travel in general,
Mariette summed up her impressions:
Moscow has plenty of grit and glamour. Its
history is rich and its story wildly fantastic and heart
wrenching at the same time. It is the capital of a country
full of misconceptions - perhaps the biggest one of all is
that Moscow is unattractive.
The sheer scale of the city is overwhelming
with everything appearing larger than life,
from Stalin’s skyscrapers to the black 4x4’s
battling for right of way on the freeways
and the portions of mashed potato dished
out by the sullen ladies behind the buffet
tables.
Preconceptions and generalisations can
be as fascinating as they are lazy, try these
on for size.
The eager young volunteers who met
us at the airport were keen to know
what we thought of Russian travellers.
“You see,” they said, “we are not all like
that.” Before I could answer one young
volunteer turned to me and made an
observation of his own: “I guess I was
wrong about you too,” he said. “What
do you mean?” I asked. “Well, you are
not black. And you are very young for
someone so esteemed.” Not so sure
about the esteemed…or the young for that matter,
but his point and a new friendship were made.
And here’s the part that will interest anyone with interests
in tourism in the Helderberg and Overberg (pretty much
anyone living and earning a living here), here are some
of Mariette’s top insights from the UNWTO Global City
Tourism Summit. You’ll find the full article here.