Since we're returned from Russia, friends keep asking two questions. "What did you eat?" and "Did you run?" 

Let's tackle the gastronomical aspect first. 

The food was bad. Very bad. Awful. Near the end of the trip when we finally were offered a salad it prompted Blair to comment that he missed my cooking. (Yes, the food was that bad.) 

Fruit was scarce and greens almost non-existent. Salt, however, was plentiful. I bloated up like a puffer fish. There was salt was in everything - the bread, the meat (so I was told), the soup, the vegetables, the scrambled eggs...