On 9th April 1867 The United States senate reluctantly voted to purchase Alaska from Russia for just $7.2 million.
What a different place the world would be, geographically and politically, if Alaska still belonged to Russia. Although Winston Churchill's iron curtain has now gone I wonder if there would be an "ice curtain" dividing Alaska from Canada and the US. Still, the world is what it is - a very strange place, especially where different cultures meet.
Here in Moscow I have my fingers crossed that there is no more snow left in the sky to fall on us. There are gangs of workmen breaking up the piles of snow that have amassed during the Winter.
It makes it easier to melt. The roads and pavements are awash with melting snow and the almost non-stop rain we had yesterday. April showers? Trying to circumvent the pools of water that were everywhere yesterday I was reminded of the old one-liner "I don't care what your name is, you're not walking on my lake while I'm fishing!"
What a different place the world would be, geographically and politically, if Alaska still belonged to Russia. Although Winston Churchill's iron curtain has now gone I wonder if there would be an "ice curtain" dividing Alaska from Canada and the US. Still, the world is what it is - a very strange place, especially where different cultures meet.
Here in Moscow I have my fingers crossed that there is no more snow left in the sky to fall on us. There are gangs of workmen breaking up the piles of snow that have amassed during the Winter.
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