Bernie Sanders, former mayor of Burlington, Vermont honeymooned with his wife in Russia back in 1988 visiting Moscow, Yaroslavl and Leningrad, now known as St. Petersburg. politico.com/story/2019/05/… 1988 was the same year that Mayor Bernie established a sister city relationship with Yaroslavl, Russia (see burlingtonyaroslavl.com). 1010 years old, located 150 miles northeast of Moscow, was Russia’s most important trading center and was the second largest city after Moscow.