Aeroflot nostalgie

Today, I almost missed my connecting flight to Athens in Munich. Which made me think...

Those of you who had a chance to fly Aeroflot in the Soviet era may remember what they used to serve as a meal. They did not have any microwaves or anything, so it was all cold and it was all the same - every time. I remember it very vividly: some rice, boiled chicken, a piece of cucumber and carbonated drink called "Buratino" (Russian equivalent of "Pinoccio"). And this smell.. I did not take flights too well when I was a kid, so this smell made me sick every time.

On their wings, every aircraft carried proud four letters: USSR. Written in cyrillic, of course, which looks like CCCP - Soyuz Sovetskih Sotsialisticheskih Respublic. Naturally, every english-speaking passenger pronounced the word as "see-see-see-pee".

What I did not know at the time and was told only when I had entered the University and made some american friends is how they deciphered the omnipresent acronym. You guessed it - "Cold Chicken and a Cucumber on the Plate".

I think I damaged some of my internal organs laughing when I first heard this.