Today, December 1st, is the first day of Winter in Russia. The Russian winter is known to be cold, very cold. So much so that the expressions General Winter, General Frost, or General Snow refer to the harsh winter climate as a contributing factor to the military failures of several invasions of Russia. This year, though, it could turn out... Continue Reading →
Just a few hundred meters away from Murmansk's largest monument ( the Defenders of the Soviet Arctic during the Great Patriotic War) sits what is probably the city's smallest and undoubtedly the cutest. In 2013 the inhabitants of Murmansk were called to cast their preference for a new monument to be put on the shores... Continue Reading →
Like it or not, McDonalds and Russia have a long history. The American fast food chain actually opened its first restaurant in Moscow a couple of years before Russia was even an independent country. Here you can read the full story of McUSSR – The first McDonald’s in the Soviet Union. Nowadays there are about... Continue Reading →
«Big Wood» is the name of a ski resort in the town of Kirovsk, located at the spurs of the Khibiny Mountains on the shores of the Lake Bolshoy Vudyavr, 175 kilometers (109 mi) south of Murmansk. The skiing trails are located on the southern and northern slopes of the Mount Aikuaiventchorr (I'll give you a minute to try and... Continue Reading →
There is an old saying that goes: "amateur photographers talk about gear, professional photographers talk about composition, but great photographers talk about light." I don't consider myself a great photographer, but today I want to talk about light. There is a reason why Northern countries are increasingly popular with photographers (think Iceland, but also Norway,... Continue Reading →
Deep, deep under the Victory park (Park Pobedy in Russian) on Poklonnaya Hill, lays's Moscow Metro's deepest station. At 84 meters underground, according to the official figures, it is the deepest metro station in Moscow and and the third deepest in the world by mean depth, after Kiev Metro's Arsenalna and Saint Petersburg Metro's Admiralteyskaya, and the very deepest station by... Continue Reading →
On 28 May 2017 the Russian made airliner Irkut MC-21 made its successful maiden flight in Irkutsk. Developed by the Yakovlev Design Bureau and produced by Irkut, it is the largest design bureau project in 40 years. The previous record holder was the Yak-42, the first airliner produced in the Soviet Union to be powered by modern high-bypass turbofan engines. The first of three Yak-42... Continue Reading →
In 1957 the USSR launched both the world's first nuclear-powered surface ship and the first nuclear-powered civilian vessel: the nuclear-powered icebreaker Lenin. Now permanently moored in Murmansk, the ship is an unmissable museum for anyone visiting the largest city on Earth above the Artic Circle. An embodiment of the technical progress of her time, the Lenin comprised 70,000 parts, with the total length... Continue Reading →
If you ever happen to find yourself in Murmansk in a cold day (and if you ever happen to find yourself in Murmansk, chances are it will be a cold day, with a mean daily temperature of 0,5 C - 33 F - year around and -10 C, 13.8 F, in January) a warm place... Continue Reading →
Russia Through The Lens 