When you cannot prevent a risk, mitigate it.

Who said that safety standards in Russia are low? Obviously, someone very oblivious to his surroundings in the critical moments... See the picture below to see how pro-activity rules when it comes to mitigate head injuries in the toilets.

Admire the attention for details in placing safeguards at the strategic places: on the ceiling for tall people, on the wall for people in a hurry. No more going to the restrooms with a hard hat and a mouth guard for me!

Sent from my iPhone

Saratov

We went to Saratov to say Hi to Katya's family. I'll skip the details about the family... just in case they read this blog, let me say that they are all extremely nice people, very welcoming and that it was a pleasure to meet them all.
About the city: Until the end of the Soviet Union in 1991, Saratov was designated a "closed city", off limits to foreigners because of the aircraft manufacturing facility in the city. With the end of the Soviet Union, they stopped manufacturing their Yak planes, but you can still fly in one if you go to Saratov (in fact, you have to).
To all the foreigners who could not go to Saratov during all these years, let me tell you, you missed a very interesting city. The architecture of the city dating from the XIX century is beautiful and there seems to be many cultural events happening all the time (I did not stay there long enough to really benefit from all the culture there): there is a beautiful museum (Radishevski museum) from outside, but they say inside it is nice too. There are many parks... and of course, there is Volga, omnipresent and which is over 3 km wide (ca 2 miles).
The weather was beautiful, we walked a lot, so I am bringing back a few pictures from there. Please share with all foreigners who could not go there until 1992.