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Jan. 11th, 2003 10:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
anotheranonToday D. and I went on SpyDrive - our good friends got D. tickets for Xmas :)
It was very, very cool. One of the guides was a high-level KGB person for 30 years and provided a LOT of insight as to the hows and whys of KGB work in DC. All the biggies were covered - Hanssen, Ames, Kim Philby, etc., but also people that were only revealed as spies when the VENONA decryption project was made public. Some were very high up - one of FDR's close advisors and the 2nd of command at the OSS (predecessor of the CIA).
The bus takes you to the residences, dead drop sites, and meeting sites in the city. Also features a lot of embassies (the new Russian Federation building is quite nice). It really IS going on right under your nose.
Perhaps the most nauseating case of Americans syping for the enemy was Samuel Dickstein, the congressman who had no sympathy for Communism (he pushed for the House Un-American Activities committee[!]) but freely provided information to the KGB for the right price, who were so put off by his mercenary attitude that they called him "Crook". Maybe I'm naive but I'm still amazed that there is such cynicism in the world.
In any event, very cool, and highly recommended - playing tourist in your own town is grossly underrated.
We both had an early morning and while D. managed to stay awake, I took a 3 hour nap and am still somewhat groggy. My body still can't make up it's mind whether it has a cold/flu or not so it is just as well that I got some rest, but I hate losing whole afternoons.
It was very, very cool. One of the guides was a high-level KGB person for 30 years and provided a LOT of insight as to the hows and whys of KGB work in DC. All the biggies were covered - Hanssen, Ames, Kim Philby, etc., but also people that were only revealed as spies when the VENONA decryption project was made public. Some were very high up - one of FDR's close advisors and the 2nd of command at the OSS (predecessor of the CIA).
The bus takes you to the residences, dead drop sites, and meeting sites in the city. Also features a lot of embassies (the new Russian Federation building is quite nice). It really IS going on right under your nose.
Perhaps the most nauseating case of Americans syping for the enemy was Samuel Dickstein, the congressman who had no sympathy for Communism (he pushed for the House Un-American Activities committee[!]) but freely provided information to the KGB for the right price, who were so put off by his mercenary attitude that they called him "Crook". Maybe I'm naive but I'm still amazed that there is such cynicism in the world.
In any event, very cool, and highly recommended - playing tourist in your own town is grossly underrated.
We both had an early morning and while D. managed to stay awake, I took a 3 hour nap and am still somewhat groggy. My body still can't make up it's mind whether it has a cold/flu or not so it is just as well that I got some rest, but I hate losing whole afternoons.
