Greetings from Estonia (Constitution Day weekend, Haapsalu)
Seth sends a postcard from Estonia where he is spending a 3-day weekend for the USSR's 'Constitution Day', noting it is probably the last time the holiday will be celebrated. He admires the Baltic coast, compares Estonia to neighboring Finland, and says he prefers Tallinn to Leningrad because it is smaller and easier to navigate.
Soviet Constitution DayEstonia travel
October 7, 1991 · Postcard
Postcard to Mom & Dad - Alexandrinsky Theatre & Catherine II Monument, Leningrad (Oct 7, 1991)
Seth writes to his parents Don and Jan Baker from Leningrad on Oct 7, 1991. He reacts with surprise to news of their trip to New Zealand, urges them to consider visiting the Soviet Union, and rhapsodizes about the beauty of Leningrad and the Baltics, the genuine antiquity of European architecture and art, and the palaces and royal estates.
travel encouragementEuropean vs American antiquity
Picture postcard of St. Basil's Cathedral and the Kremlin clock tower lit at night on Red Square, Moscow. Seth writes to his parents Don & Jan Baker, identifying the landmarks in the photo and announcing this is the first in a series of three postcards describing his Moscow experience.
Moscow sightseeingRed Square landmarks
Seth writes from Moscow (Oct 25) describing arriving sick with the flu after a stuffy night train, hotel troubles, a luggage-laden bus tour in the snow, and his miserable first impression of the city — which then improves as he eats at McDonald's and Pizza Hut, walks Red Square, and sees St. Basil's, the Kremlin, and Lenin's body.
arrival in Moscowbeing sick while traveling
Seth writes to his grandparents Joyce & Charles Garrod in Zephyrhills, Florida from Moscow, describing a couple of days exploring the city, seeing Lenin's tomb and Red Square at night, and contrasting the snow in Russia with the warmer Florida weather.
Moscow sightseeingLenin's Mausoleum
Seth's Letter on the Food Situation in St. Petersburg
A continuation (pages 2-4) of a handwritten letter from Seth Baker describing in detail the food and shopping situation in St. Petersburg in late 1991: the laborious multi-line Soviet shopping process, street vendors, markets, scarcity of cheese and vanilla, dorm-life food trading, learning not to waste food, and his upcoming trip to Lake Baikal.
Soviet food scarcityshopping and queues
November 1991 · Letter
Another Letter from Siberia: The Boy Jean at Lake Baikal
Seth writes to his parents from a hotel high above Lake Baikal, recounting his friendship with a Russian boy (~age 8, whose name he renders 'Jean'/'Shena') who keeps gifting him cherished pins, a key chain from Petrodvorets, Tsarist banknotes, and hand-painted wooden spoons. He reflects on Russian gift-giving culture, the family on holiday, a taxi-driver conversation about the Hartford Whalers, and his frustrations learning Russian, before flying back to Leningrad.
Russian gift-giving culturebefriending a Russian family
November 1991 · Letter
Letter from deep in Siberia: Irkutsk & Lake Baikal
Seth writes to his parents from a hotel overlooking the Angara River in Siberia, describing his flight on Aeroflot with friend Brian and a man named Vitaly, the Intourist hotel in Irkutsk, the famous Hotel Baikal by Lake Baikal, a long cold walk to the village of Listvyanka, a generous Russian family next door, and his reflections on the 'two extremes' of Russian life. He closes with travel plans (Latvia, Lithuania, Yalta) and a packing wish-list.
Siberia travelLake Baikal
travel plansLithuania
November 4, 1991 · Letter
The Lithuanian Adventure
A four-page handwritten letter from Seth Baker to his parents, dated Nov 4, 1991, recounting a weekend trip to Vilnius, Lithuania with his roommate Brett. He describes flying Aeroflot, lax airport security, hunting for a hotel, opening a Lithuanian bank account, drinking all night with two Russians from near Riga, a chaotic delayed-flight day with an Austrian businessman, a Sri Lankan Trotskyite, and a Lithuanian named Eugene, and visiting the artist Ilya Repin's house outside St. Petersburg. He closes with news about his visa extension, plans to teach English, and an upcoming trip to Siberia (Irkutsk).
travelSoviet collapse
Irkutsk — view from the Intourist hotel on the Angara
A picture postcard of Irkutsk showing Yu. A. Gagarin Boulevard from the Angara River. Seth writes to Mom & Dad that this card depicts the Intourist hotel where he spent his first night in Irkutsk; he was on the 4th floor with a beautiful view of the Angara and the snow-covered park. He notes the hydrofoil in the photo is out of service due to the icy climate, and signs off 'Siberia is great this time of year!'
Siberia travelIntourist hotels
gratitudefamily
Postcard from Irkutsk / Lake Baikal, Siberia to Grandma & Grandpa Garrod
Seth writes to his grandparents Joyce and Charles Garrod in Zephyrhills, FL, from Irkutsk during a holiday break from school. He took an 8-hour flight to Lake Baikal, Siberia, describing the snow, the icy blue water, hazy mountains, and frigid temperatures, and says he is having a great time and finds the country fascinating.
travelSiberia
A picture postcard of Lake Baikal (captioned Irkutsk) on which Seth lists facts about the lake — 400 miles long, more than a mile deep, holding one fifth of the world's fresh water and the world's oldest lake — and gushes that it is wonderful, crisp and beautiful. Mailed to his parents Don & Jan Baker in Bloomfield, CT.
Lake Baikalgeography
A November 1991 picture postcard from Seth Baker to his sister Rachel, sent from Irkutsk in Siberia. Seth describes the cold, fur hats, and his plans to spend a few more days enjoying the scenery of Lake Baikal before returning to school, and asks how Rachel's classes at Loomis are going.
travel in Siberiacold weather
Seth writes to his sister Jessica from Irkutsk, Siberia, describing the extreme cold (-10 below 0 and snowing, with 2 feet of snow in November), being near one of the world's largest lakes (Lake Baikal), and joking that the New Kids on the Block and Michael Jackson are still popular in Russia.
Siberia travelextreme cold
Postcard from Lake Baikal: "the most beautiful place I have ever seen"
Seth writes to his parents Don and Jan Baker from his trip to Lake Baikal near Irkutsk, describing the lake's unique wildlife (1200+ species, seals), its extreme winter (freezing to 2-3 feet thick at -50C), and the storms and waves. He calls it the most beautiful place he has ever seen, watching the sunset over the lake from his hilltop hotel balcony.
Lake BaikalSiberia travel
Seth writes from Leningrad on Nov 17th asking his parents to mail $7.50 to the Ashford, CT postmaster for his PO Box 72 (due Dec 1st), and mentions AIFS is blocking his attempts to change his plane ticket through Finnair in New York.
travel logisticsplane ticket changes
November 20, 1991 · Letter
Letter from Seth to Mom & Dad: plans to stay in St. Petersburg, visa & flight battles with AIFS
A four-page handwritten letter from Seth Baker to his parents, written 20 Nov 1991 (annotated Dec 18), describing his efforts to extend his stay in St. Petersburg after his AIFS program ends: arranging a visa through Leningrad State Tech University, a teaching job, an apartment, and his fight with AIFS over changing his Finnair flight date. He reflects on worsening food shortages, the darkness of the northern winter, homesickness, and his desire not to miss this time of historic change.
staying on after the programvisa extension
November 25, 1991 · Letter
Letter home: a weekend trip to Kaunas, Lithuania (Nov. 1991)
Seth writes to his parents recounting a weekend trip from Leningrad/St. Petersburg to Kaunas, Lithuania, to visit his friend Eugene, a Soviet-trained radio engineer now working as a musician. He describes Eugene's nightclub floorshow and apartment, the warmth of known Russians versus the coldness toward strangers, severe gas and electricity shortages, the Devil Museum, the Lithuanian police (including women officers), KGB-headquarters graffiti, a 12-hour airport delay, and a harrowing night of mafia-controlled cabs and tire-slashing taxi drivers at the airport.
travel in newly independent LithuaniaSoviet hospitality vs hostility toward strangers
December 1991 · Letter
Arrangements for Next Semester / Merry Christmas
A two-page handwritten letter from Seth Baker in Leningrad (Saint Petersburg) to his parents giving logistical instructions: addresses for a photographer holding his film, AIFS program peers staying in St. Pete next semester, and a request to send a $300 check to Elise Ardoyno who will carry the cash to him for rent and bribes. He warns not to give anything to Stephan's parents, notes American Express cannot supply cash in Leningrad, mentions teaching English and collecting tongue-twisters for a Russian teacher, thanks Heather for a card, and wishes the family a Merry Christmas.
money and finances abroadcash economy of the collapsing USSR
December 2, 1991 · Letter
Seth to Mom & Dad — University enrollment, apartment hunt, and the dark St. Petersburg winter (Dec 2, 1991)
A quick logistical update Seth hand-delivers via a returning friend rather than the Soviet post. He covers enrolling at Leningrad University, paying tuition, the difficult apartment search, co-teaching his first English class, errands his parents can run for him (a $8 postmaster payment in Ashford CT and a Cyrillic fonts disk for the friend carrying the letter), possible travel to Asia or Europe, and the grim, sunless St. Petersburg winter.
university enrollmenttuition and money
December 10, 1991 · Letter
Letter from Mom (Jan Baker) to Seth, December 10, 1991
A typed letter from Seth's mother Jan wishing him Happy Birthday, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year while he is in the USSR. She reflects on past Christmases, reports that she is typing his letters into the computer and sharing them, discusses sending him his repaired camera, a money deadline at Ashford Post Office, asks him to find dolls or statues from foreign countries for her collection, warns about alcoholism and vodka, explains how American Express in Leningrad can cash personal checks, and expresses hope he finds housing and doesn't get too homesick. Twice she handwrites a Kinko's fax number (203 232-3402).
familychristmas
My new apartment in St. Petersburg, finances, and the KGB
Seth writes a four-page letter to his parents describing his newly rented St. Petersburg apartment in loving detail, laying out his 7-month budget, repeating logistical reminders about money/visas/mail, recounting how the KGB intercepted roubles he mailed home, and profiling his wealthy jazz-musician landlord.
apartment huntingSoviet daily life
December 22, 1991 · Letter
Letter from Seth to Mom & Dad: toilet paper, Baltic news subscriptions, and a no-gas Estonian Airlines
A two-page handwritten letter from Seth to his parents dated Dec. 22, 1991. He thanks them for packing envelopes and toilet paper, jokes about the scarcity of paper products in the USSR, describes news clippings and newspaper subscriptions he is sending about the coup and the Baltics, and recounts a comic visit to Estonian Airlines where there were no flights because there was no gasoline.
shortages and rationingSoviet collapse
Postcard to Grandma & Grandpa Garrod: white Christmas in St. Petersburg
Seth writes to his grandparents (Mr. & Mrs. Charles Garrod of Zephyrhills, FL) on Dec 22, 1991, reporting nonstop snow guaranteeing a white Christmas, his move to his own apartment, and his transfer to the more prestigious St. Petersburg State University for next semester. He notes Russian Christmas is Jan 7th, that travel has gotten harder under new regulations, and signs off with love.
white Christmassnow
December 24, 1991 · Letter
The day I accidentally talked to Estonia's Foreign Minister
Writing from St. Petersburg the day after returning from Tallinn, Seth recounts how he stumbled into a conversation with Lennart Meri, the Foreign Minister of newly independent Estonia, while trying to learn how to get an Estonian visa. Meri quietly told him to just enter on the night train without a visa in January, and Seth only realized afterward he had spoken with the 4th most important person in Estonia.
Estonian independencepost-Soviet borders and visas
December 29, 1991 · Letter
Letter to Mom & Dad about a trip to Tallinn, Estonia (Dec 29, 1991)
Seth writes from St. Petersburg recounting his 5th or 6th trip to Tallinn, Estonia. He is repeatedly mistaken for Estonian or Finnish because of his Russian, scores a cheap room at the Viru hotel, watches Finnish TV (Beverly Hills 90210), endures a comically silent dinner with a cold Estonian, and on the train back meets a young Georgian/Russian woman from Sochi whom he helps and is smitten by.
travel to TallinnEstonian-Russian language politics
1992 · Calendar card
1992 "Baikal" Pocket Calendar Card — Irkutsk Branch, Soviet Cultural Foundation
A small 1992 Soviet pocket calendar card issued by the Irkutsk branch of the Soviet Cultural Foundation, part of the 'Baikal' photo series. The reverse bears a color photograph of cracked ice on Lake Baikal by photographer A. Froydberg. Seth annotated the card by hand with the word 'BAIKAL' (in Latin script) above the printed credit line.
Soviet pocket calendarLake Baikal
Seth writes from the shores of Lake Baikal on a second visit, describing a cruise on the Angara river and his evolving Siberian travel plans (train turned plane), with Vladivostok as his next stop.
Siberian travelLake Baikal
January 9, 1992 · Letter
One Day in St. Petersburg
Seth, awake at 3-4 AM and inspired by Dostoevsky and Chekhov, writes a detailed account of a single ordinary winter day in St. Petersburg: rising at dawn, riding the trolley to Finland Station, browsing booksellers and kiosks, a failed daily attempt to cash traveler's checks at American Express (shut down by Moscow), buying bread and feeding ducks on the canals, hunting groceries at the markets, and the emotional pendulum of loving and hating the city.
daily life in post-Soviet St. Petersburgwinter survival
Feb 2, 1992 - Seth's plans for the coming months from St. Petersburg
Seth writes to his parents from St. Petersburg outlining his plans for the next several months: studying as an independent student at Saint Petersburg State University, possible spring travel either to visit Huan in Vietnam (or Egypt) or backpacking west across Russia to Irkutsk/Vladivostok, and staying in St. Petersburg in June for the White Nights.
study abroadtravel plans
March 19, 1992 · Letter
Letter to Mom & Dad, March 18, 1992 - job-hunting, confusion, and a request for a $2 bill
A late-night letter Seth writes to his parents from St. Petersburg, Russia, admitting he has been depressed and confused for the past month - not from homesickness but from uncertainty about his future and an inner conflict about whether to return to the US in June. He updates them on his fruitless job hunt (he'd take anything paying $10,000/year), his finances (tuition paid from his Amex funds), a planned May cross-country trip he'll log, and asks a favour: to mail him a photo with a $2 bill for his landlord, who collects unusual American currency.
depression and confusionjob hunting
April 1992 · Letter
The Trip to Siberia Finally Begins: Flying to Irkutsk and the Great Hotel Hunt
Seth narrates the start of a two-week Siberia trip in April. With the Trans-Siberian Railroad on strike and a 96-hour nonstop rail trip ruled out, he flies from Pulkovo Airport (Saint Petersburg). He describes Russian luggage-wrapping, cocker spaniel puppies in the airport, drunk Arab journalism students on the Aeroflot flight, a refueling stop in Tiumen, and arrival in a sunny Irkutsk. The bulk of the letter is a comic ordeal of trying to find an affordable hotel (Intourist, Angera, Baikal, Siberia), being quoted 1,500 roubles a night for foreign students, being thrown out of the Angera, and having three local kids steal his jug of (undrinkable Leningrad city) water thinking it was juice. He ends with a riff on the 'appeal to pity' as the best strategy for Soviet 'service.'
Siberia travelAeroflot flight
April 14, 1992 · Letter
Cable TV from America, the drunk cableman, and a trip to Yalta
Seth writes home from Saint Petersburg about getting American cable TV installed via a co-op satellite dish, a comic saga of waiting for a perpetually-drunk cableman, the chaos and inflated prices of booking domestic and international flights for a weekend trip to Yalta, and a Palm Sunday Mass where pussywillows replaced palms.
American cable TV in Russiapost-Soviet inflation
April 15, 1992 · Letter
Letter from Seth to Mom & Dad - Visa scams, business meetings, and St. Petersburg spring
An April 15, 1992 four-page handwritten letter from Seth Baker in St. Petersburg to his parents. He describes a frustrating ongoing battle over his student visa with the University director (who threatens to terminate it unless Seth signs a school contract), a disappointing business meeting at the U.S. Consulate, observations on corruption and the two-tier ruble economy, social awkwardness around a Russian girl Stefan tried to set him up with, reflections on the language barrier in relationships, the maddening on-again-off-again spring snow, the completion of his banking course, a postponed trip to Yalta, and a possible future trip north to Murmansk and closed cities via a contact with military connections.
visa problemsbureaucratic corruption
April 24, 1992 · Letter
Off to Siberia without a visa - the trip plan, April 1992
Seth writes to his parents just before departing on a major solo trip across Siberia and the Russian Far East. He explains his visa is being canceled, his Yalta plan fell through, and he has switched from a train to a plane trip to Irkutsk, Lake Baikal, Vladivostok and Kamchatka. He details how he packed (food, money hidden in surgical gauze on his arm), describes a bribe to get a cheap plane ticket, and comments on Russian politics, predicting Gaidar will be the next leader.
A long serialized travel-journal letter (numbered pages 5 through 32; the opening pages are not present) in which Seth recounts a solo trans-Siberian / Russian Far East journey in spring 1992. He sails the river out of Irkutsk and is inducted into a ship's crew, sleeps in airports under giant Lenin paintings, battles hotel clerks and the lingering internal-visa system in Vladivostok, observes the Japanese economic grip on the Far East, befriends an invalid-rights advocate on a flight, meets American missionaries in Novosibirsk, flies to Kazan in newly independent Tatarstan, changes money via a tuxedoed black-market waiter at the Hotel Rossia in Moscow, eats at McDonald's and Pizza Hut, and finally trains home to St. Petersburg.
trans-Siberian travelRussian Far East
Seth writes to his grandparents (the Garrods in Zephyrhills, FL) from Vladivostok on the Sea of Japan during a trans-Siberian trip, noting the city's Korean/Chinese/Japanese influences and his route via Irkutsk toward Novosibirsk, needing to be back in St. Petersburg by the 16th.
trans-Siberian travelVladivostok
May 1, 1992 · Postcard
Greetings from Vladivostok — visa trouble on the Far East travels
A postcard from Seth in Vladivostok (May 1, 1992) to his parents Don & Jan Baker in Bloomfield, CT. He is enjoying warm, sunny weather on the Sea of Japan but is having visa problems with local authorities, so he has decided to skip Kamchatka and will reach Novosibirsk on Sunday. He notes travel is exhausting and a square meal is hard to find on the road, but the trip is worth it; the Far East is heavily influenced by Japan, China & Korea.
travel across post-Soviet Russiavisa and bureaucratic problems
May 14, 1992 · Letter
Letter to Mom & Dad, May 14, 1992 - visa, teaching jobs, newspaper idea, Sochi plans
Seth writes a four-page letter to his parents from Russia, sending it back to the States with the departing AIFS group. He covers his new visa, full-time English teaching, several job leads (an American Business Center in Moscow, hotels, IBM/P&G/AT&T, an English-language newspaper idea), domestic life with dubbed American movies, rappelling plans, a trip to Sochi and Riga, his uncertainty about whether to come home or stay, and farewells to the departing Americans.
visa and residencyteaching English
Ephemera
Travel itinerary notes (Moscow / Leningrad / Helsinki) + repurposed Sister City petition form
Two loose pages of Seth Baker's working notes: page 1 is a pencil-written travel itinerary covering a March departure routed Moscow (Hotel Cosmos) to Leningrad (Aeroflot flight SU-2419) to a Leningrad hotel (Hotel Pulkovskaya, or Pribaltiskaya as 2nd choice), then leaving by train to Helsinki, with a reference contact 'Mark Michelli at Consulate in Moscow' and an Intourist car note. Page 2 is a printed Hartford-Ocotal (Nicaragua) Sister City Project petition form repurposed as scratch paper, with a few handwritten lines noting the 'Presid.' (president) of the 'Russian Commercial & investment Bank' and a joking message: 'Tell him thanks for skis, but no snow!'
travel planningitinerary
Brochure
Useful Addresses and Telephone Numbers / Planning Another Trip? (page 16)
A single printed page (page 16) from a U.S. Department of State / Government Printing Office 'Tips for Travelers to the USSR' brochure. The left column lists U.S. Embassy (Moscow) and U.S. Consulate General (Leningrad) addresses and phone numbers; the right column, 'Planning Another Trip?', lists other travel pamphlets available for $1 from the Superintendent of Documents.
U.S. diplomatic missions in the USSRtravel reference information
Form
Prepaid Hotel Voucher - Mrs. J. Baker, Hotel Okhtinskaya, St. Petersburg
A printed prepaid travel voucher issued by East West Tours & Travel Consulting, Inc. (New York) instructing the guest to present it to Konnect Travel Agency. It reserves a single-occupancy room for guest BAKER J/MRS at the Hotel Okhtinskaya in St. Petersburg, check-in August 27 and check-out August 31, with travel via Czechoslovakia Airlines.
travel logisticshotel reservation
Postcard from Moscow (Stone Flower Fountain) — "Moscow sort of grows on you"
Seth writes from Moscow to his parents Don & Jan Baker in Bloomfield, CT. He finds Moscow an interesting city that grows on him but lacking St. Petersburg's style, notes the many foreigners (especially Vietnamese), reports his flu is fading, and excitedly mentions his trip to Siberia in two weeks. Marked #3 of 3.
Moscow vs. Saint PetersburgSoviet travel
Postcard
Vladivostok S-56 Submarine Postcard — Seth's note about mailing his travel journal
A picture postcard of the S-56 submarine memorial in Vladivostok. On the back Seth writes to his parents that he is enclosing/mailing his travel notes (about 30 pages), apologizing that they dwell mostly on airports, hotels and bribes because those were the practical survival concerns of Soviet travel. He also mentions sending a book on Kazan, joking that the church would have preferred a book on Vladivostok or Irkutsk but, by 'Soviet Logic,' the least interesting town was the only one with a picture book printed about it.
Soviet travelhard-currency economy
Postcard: "This is my dorm in Leningrad" (Winter Palace / Hermitage)
A picture postcard from Seth Baker to his parents Don and Jan Baker, showing an aerial view of Palace Square and the Winter Palace / State Hermitage in Leningrad. Seth jokingly claims the palace is his dorm, saying they occupy the east wing and retire to the library for tea, before admitting earnestly that it is a fabulous city and he is enjoying himself fully.
