Russia

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLORIDA USA
The world's largest and busiest launch facility, Kennedy is the place to touch a moon rock, get close to the coastal launch pads and, if you're lucky, watch a satellite take off, which still happens. Don't miss the bus tour to the Apollo/Saturn V Center, home to the largest rocket built (a 363ft-long moon rocket), the moving Space Shuttle Atlantis exhibit and the Shuttle Launch Experience.

Many people assume Siberia is an inhospitable wasteland of frequented by bears and convicts, largely due to the more than 14 million people who were deported to the Gulag prison camps there between 1929 and 1953. But head to teh eastern slopes of Russia yourself and you will soon find this assumption is incorrect.  Stretching from the Ural Mountains to the Pacific Ocean, Siberia covers a whopping 5.2 million square miles. It accounts for 77 per cent of Russia's territory but is home to only 25 per cent of its population. Meaning, lot of uncrowded slopes!

The St. Peter and Paul Fortress, St. Petersburg: This historic city was founded by Peter The Great (though not named after him, the hounour went to St. Peter).  I’ve chosen the fortress because it was the first structure built in the city.  The story goes that Peter was fighting against the Swedes and he drew a cross on the ground and said, “Here shall be born St.Petersburg.” It looks over a river and is like a vast version of Venice.

PERM-36: A slightly morbid choice, but this is the last of the political prison camps of the Soviet Age and it’s been preserved.  It didn’t close until 1087.  Back then, if you were found guilty of subversion or anti-state propaganda you’d be sent here.  You can see the tiny cells for solitary confinement.  They tried to break people’s spirit. Happily, they didn’t always succeed.
 

A river cruise along Russia’s rivers and canals offers a fantastic opportunity to see two of the country’s biggest cities (Moscow and St. Petersburg) and the rural life in between. A cruise of 10-13 days will take you from Moscow to St. Petersburg or vice versa along the Neva, Svir and Volga rivers, lakes Ladoga and Onega and scenic waterways.

Go back into history along Uzbekistan’s Silk Road Cities Kiva, Bokhara and Samonkand. Once part of the USSR Uzbekistan now stand as an independent country in the middle of central Asia.  Around it are Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Afganistan and Turkmenistan.  The capital Taskent’s still bear resemblance of its former association with Russia, through its architecture and the mix of people that you come across. There are the pale face Russians, who stayed after Uzbekistan gain its independence and the oval-faced, almond eyed individuals in brightly-coloured striped robes.

Before the Russian Uzbekistan played a significant role in the Silk and spice trade, that gave it wealth and defined the region.  A visit to the region especially Samarkand, Khiva, Bokhara and Taskent and you will find remnants of its rich history in trade, architecture and past rulers – Alexander the Great, Genghis Kan and Tamburlaine).
 

There is no generally accepted definition of what exactly Eastern Europe is. The Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania often identify themselves as Northern European and seem keen to distance themselves culturally from their soviet past. At the southern end of the continent, in the Caucasus, it can be debated whether Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan should be geographically classed as a part of Eastern Europe, despite many of the population very definitely identifying themselves as European. Russia, of course, is mainly geographically in Asia, but its best-known cities, St Petersburg and Moscow, are firmly rooted, both culturally and geographically, within the traditions of Europe.