A Gentleman in Moscow question

I loved, LOVED, this book. I have a few things I'd like to run by fellow readers:

1. What was the purpose of that little glimpse into Andrey's home life, with his wife and deceased son's room?

2. Are we to assume that the American vending machine salesman is spying for America, via Richard (and the salesman's waving to the eminent professor is what makes that connection for the Count, prompting the Count to confront the American in his room for the favor of contacting Richard about his plan)? Because it was the eminent professor who seems to be the connection between Richard and his spies... Otherwise, I'm not sure what the connection is to the salesman and the ensuing story. Or why it would have been worth noting that he waved to the professor.

3. We learn that from the Count knew he would need to steal a few things from either a Norwegian, a Dane, a Swede or a Finn -- presumably a passport. But when I tried to make that connection to the available travel guides in the basement -- which he would later use as a decoy -- we learned that the available guides were from Russia, Italy, Finland (the one he wound up stealing, since he was able to steal a Finn's passport), England and two for Paris (which he also used to help his daughter get to the American Embassy). So what's the deal with needing to steal from a Norwegian, a Dane or a Swede if none of those destinations were counted among the available guidebooks? Shouldn't it have been needing to steal from a Finn, an Italian, an Englishman?