On August 9, 1899, Helen Lyndon Goff, known by the pen name Pamela Travers, was born. She is the author of six books about Mary Poppins, a magical nanny with the gift of understanding and raising children. The story of Mary Poppins was conceived by Travers in 1934, and two years prior, she visited Moscow as part of a delegation of English trade unions. As a result of this trip, she wrote the book "Moscow Excursion," which went unnoticed in the USSR.

Travers noted that there was a lack of personal expression in Russia: people's faces seemed frozen and expressionless, and their eyes, glassy and empty. She described them as dangerous, capable of anything under the influence of cruel or fanatical moods. She wanted to see individuals, not masks, the repeatedly reproduced Soviet images.

In her opinion, Russia had not yet freed itself from the influence of Dostoevsky, where fervent compassion coexists with senseless cruelty. She called the Moscow prison the happiest place in Russia, to which she felt drawn like a magnet. After a statistical report from the director, the prisoners were released to harvest crops on their word of honor. Despite the dirt and drabness, the faces of the prisoners shone with joy, as their anti-social act gave them the opportunity to break free from the crowd. The manifestation of individual will is perceived in Russia as a purifying fire.

Travers faced difficulties when she wanted to take a hot bath. A maid, resembling a nurse, was horrified, as hot water was available only twice a week. Embarrassed by her request, Travers apologized and cautiously asked about the possibility of running cold water. The porter, trying to fix the electricity, reassured her that cold water might be available by evening.

On the streets of Moscow, she observed queues for food, where people stood silently and grayly, with expressions of absence on their faces, as if under anesthesia. It resembled hunger, and she wondered if they were nourished by slogans and dreams of paradise on earth.

She was not allowed into the church, but she sneaked inside and saw a service full of people. A woman dressed in rags spoke to her in French, and Travers gave her a few rubles. The guide carelessly replied that the old Russians were "absorbed."

Work in Russia, in her opinion, replaces warmth and food, serving as a sign of social significance. Serving the state is the highest moral virtue, which it exploits to the fullest. The new Russia professes a doctrine of deprivation, while the world suffers from abundance.

Food prices in the dining car were higher than anywhere else in the world. For example, a modest meal without vodka and wine cost 1 pound sterling, and wine prices were absurdly high. A small bottle of beer cost 3-5 shillings, while a small shot of vodka cost 3-4 shillings.

Travers met a young American who told a story about a gramophone that passed from hand to hand through marriages and divorces. It was a frivolous existence, symbolizing material values.

She admired the courage and resilience of a nation that limited its life to the material side, but she could not fully admire a mechanized state. Rationalization, taken to its logical conclusion, can mean death.

Nevertheless, in her opinion, the Russian race possesses an inner strength capable of melting diverse particles of life into a single pattern.