Some pictures from Russia:

We arrived in Russia on a peculiar day. I was immediately shocked with the beauty of St. Petersburg, everything was so big and beautiful. The landscape was surreal, a beautiful city and Russian sunset contrasted with submarines on the water channels and military airplanes in the sky. There were navy men walking around and people gathered around the city's water channels with Russian flags. This off course, wasn't normal, and we would later find out that they were practicing for a military parade that was going to take place soon. Coming from living in Germany for many years (where nationalism and the use of the German flag is limited to football) made this a strange thing to witness. It reminded me of my own country Colombia, where military presence has become completely normalized and is often celebrated as a symbol of national pride.

Beyond the shock of that first day the beauty of the cities, the food and the people were wonderful, and much more impressive than any symbol of military power displayed that first day.