I've always been fascinated (and a bit shocked, at first) to see how Russian cities still have active power plants right in the middle of the city, often in nice, upscale, residential neighborhoods. This is not a case of a city "growing around" industrial buildings that were, once, in the outskirts or even in the... Continue Reading →
Easter is a very important celebration in Russia, arguably even more important than Christmas! In Russian Orthodoxy and Eastern Christianityin general, the spiritual preparation for Easter begins with Great Lent, which starts on Clean Monday and lasts for 40 continuous days (including Sundays). The last week of Great Lent (following the fifth Sunday of Great Lent) is... Continue Reading →
Welcome to the "third episode" of Russian Game of Thrones, where every week to celebrate the final season of the show, for each House in George R.R. Martin's fantasy world, I search for a Russian city that has a similar Coat of Arms and try imagining how the main characters of that House would look... Continue Reading →
In my previous post I mentioned how expensive renting or buying a house or an apartment in Moscow can be. Today I want to focus on how rewarding it might be, though. Let's pretend money is not an issue. What is the best of the best of the best you can buy in Moscow, real... Continue Reading →
Before moving to Russia, I had lived in a number of different countries for extended periods of time, but my first impression was that I had never seen such a stark contrast between poverty and wealth as I have here. In other parts of the world the classes tend to "mix less" and this contrast... Continue Reading →
The News of the Week seems to be the tragic fire that destroyed the roof, the spire and some of the interiors of the Norte-Dame de Paris Church, in the French capital, and the worry that it will be extremely hard to restore it to its former glory. Russia, sadly, suffered the destruction of many... Continue Reading →
Here's the "second episode" of Russian Game of Thrones, where every week to celebrate the final season of the show, for each House in George R.R. Martin's fantasy world, I search for a Russian city that has a similar Coat of Arms and try imagining how the main characters of that House would look like... Continue Reading →
This is the second part from the previous post. If you haven't seen it yet, I suggest you go and read it here. If for some reason you can not be persuaded to go and read it, here's a quick recap Top Gear / Grand Tour Style In the previous episode Khrushchev drinks a Pepsi...... Continue Reading →
This is a true story, and definitely one that deserves to be told. This is the story of how the Soviet Union (briefly) turned the Pepsi Corporation into a military superpower, the 6th largest military in the world, to be exact, at least in terms of fleet equipment. Everything in this story is true. Well,... Continue Reading →
Russia Through The Lens 