fred,

I do have to agree with you about that. Russians with a little money can be the dictionary definition of obnoxious.

One curious thing that I’ve noticed. Russians have a pet name for us Americans – pup zemlii. It means “navel of the world.” They scorn/laugh that we think everything is always all about us. (Our fixation with health food is an especial source of hilarity.)
The funny thing is that they are exactly the same damned way. I’d say even more so, hence your obnoxious tourists.