I don't want to know what you were thinking about, but I am obviously referring to the erection (the action of erecting) of a monument, more specifically the The Alexander Column (Russian: Алекса́ндровская коло́нна) in Saint Petersburg, to erect which vodka played an indispensable role! The Alexsandrovskaya Kolonna (also the "Pillar of Alexandria" , according to Alexander Pushkin’s... Continue Reading →
A couple of years ago, I wrote a post about the surreal views you can get in Saint Petersburg during the navigation period on the Neva (from April to November), when 22 bridges across the river and main canals are drawn at night to let ships pass in and out of the Baltic Sea and right through... 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 →
The 8th of September 1941 is one of the saddest days in the history of Saint Petersburg (which was called Leningrad, at the time) and the first of 872 days of siege by the Nazis. The two-and-a-half year siege caused extreme famine in the Leningrad region through disruption of utilities, water, energy and food supplies. This resulted in the deaths of up to 1,500,000 soldiers and civilians and the evacuation of 1,400,000 more, mainly women and children, many of whom died during evacuation due to starvation and bombardment.
Russia Through The Lens 