"I presume opushomes HAS traveled there, not just heard something in the 60 Minutes report on Emerging Markets"

Yes, opushomes has traveled on a Russian train, overnight. To be fair, it was approximately 15 years ago and I assume that things have improved. Opushomes does, however, prefer to rent videos rather than stick to the floor in theaters, so I cannot comment upon restrooms in our local theaters.

Having done a RT to SIN in January on NW and one to FRA on BA this year, I stand by my statement that Alitalia is not near the top of my list in respect to a travel choice in coach. I would not willingly fly them again and certainly would not spend my money to do it. MrsOpus and I do not always agree, but we definitely agree on this point.