All that we need is rest, announced Harris.
 — Rest and absolute change of environment, — said George. — Change of environment and no necessity to chink always restores the balance in mind. Perhaps you have recognized the characters of Jerome's story about the three gents and a dog in a boat. Travel is the sure remedy against boredom at home. New lands, new faces, all this provides you with the incomparable feeling of the life filled up to the brim. The road also provides you with the opportunity to find a different plane in life. Fortunately, travels are affordable to anyone at this point in time. The first person to appear in the new Hotel's feature on celebrities who like to travel is a well known Moscow artist Nikas Safronov. His pictures have been purchased by collectors in Russia and abroad, they are sold for big amounts at the Sotheby's and the Christie's. Nicas befriended many a luminary of the time, like Sophia Loren. Pierre Cardin, Montserrat Caballe, Bob de Niro, Eldar Ryazanov, Nikita Mikhalkov...

Q: Do you have the soul of a traveler?
A:There is a theory, you know, according to which a man has to change his residence every three years. I think this is a bright idea. Deep inside, however, I'm a homely man. In life, however, I am tied up by liabilities to go places. I'm fresh back from Nakhichevan. I was charmed by all the stories about the Serpent Hill which became the mascot of the town. It is renowned for the uncanny capacity to change its color. When I ascended there I realized that this is the sweetest place on earth. I was shocked with the magnificent landscapes and vistas... The only drawback is accountable by the [post-] Soviet reality, that is the poor service standard. My pal Y.Bashmet, when he goes to Paris, has to stay in dear hotels, for prestige considerations. The musician of his stature simply has to reside in a regal suite. Sometimes two days costs him $3-5,000. The star status obliges a person to behave adequately and maintain his image in the society. Movie and pop stars are forced to buy garments in expensive boutiques, put up in dear hotels, ride luxury cars.

Q: Are Russian hotels different from Moscow counterparts'?
A: They haven't changed much since Gogol and his Dead Souls. I often go to provincial towns, for instance Simbirsk. In the past it was hip to go to Lenin's native town. Now the place looks sad, hotels are rundown, they are rented out piecemeal. A hotel is like a living critter, if you stop attending, it starts decaying: suddenly an elevator stops, light goes out, phones turn silent, etc. Sometimes you are even unable to call Moscow, which feels too barbarous for a civilized person. I feel pain at that for I was born there and they elected me the citizen emeritus of the town. They opened Nicas cafeteria, they keep my paintings in the local museum. I can't help the town much, unfortunately. I'm no financier.

Q: Why do you need travels'?
A: To me, a travel is the source of inspiration. On the galactic time scale, a man lives only 5 seconds, but due to travels he can extend his life by 7 to 9 years, and sometimes he enters the eternity. It is awkward to try and make a judgment of people of the world without leaving your dusty cabin. They used to tell me that French women are not pretty; I went to France and now I see they have been wrong. In Japan. I fell in love with the country. In Egypt, I conceived a series of pictures under impression of what I've seen. It was the experience of my life to descend into the dark depths of the Pyramids. In Jordan, they preserve carefully vestiges of the olden times; they don't keep televisions in their hotels, unless you prefer luxury inns which kill the impression of the thousand years history. You know the young guys who go to the hills only to put on earphones of their walkman while frying barbecue dumplings amidst gorgeous nature, magnificent butterflies, grasshoppers, lakes, which these fellows were overlooking through the black glass of their hip spectacles. This was in Nakhichevan. It was there that I played the part of the Salvador. The honey bees collected pollen from poppies and fell in the water affected by the narcotic contained in the flower. I extended a twig to them, they had rest, dried up and flew away.

Q: You have a picture called “A castle in Italy” Are you the owner of a castle'?
A: I haven't got a castle, but I can buy one. A chateau in Italy or France costs at least $50,000. Compare it with the price of an apartment in Moscow, up to $200-300,000. Rather than a castle I'd like to buy place on an isle in the Pacific.

Natasha Matveeva, “Hotel”, 1998