Moskva!
Here is the pictoral jaunt through my year in Moscow (especially the parts that weren't in Moscow!) Please take the time to peruse these photos now, because soon they will be randomly taken down so I stop using so much space. Feel free to download the ones you like, also.
Photos
- My domicile So, on the first of February, I left my eleventh floor aerie and moved to the center. (Ish.) My new apartment is a Stalin-style building with luxurious stairways and high ceilings.
- Things to see Armchair tourists, I don't see any of you coming to visit me! Well, this is what I see around me.
- People!And these are all of the cool people I hang out with.
Recent Events
- Kostroma We took the train for one whirlwind day in Kostroma, arriving at 5 am and leaving at 11 pm. As Anita, Giorgio, Olesya and I walked into town it was raining, but the day looked up and became quite sunny. We enjoyed the rynok and the sights, as well as some cafes, before playing frisbee in the park and attracting, first, a lot of attention, followed by some couragious kids willing to try their chances throwing the disc.
- Baku, Azerbaijan Some friends of mine invited me down to play some frisbee and see Baku. So I came for a long weekend to wander the true Windy City and escape the advances of swarthy men. I played frisbee among the Candy Cane Hills in Khizi (hence the pink stripes), took a walk in the Shah's palace, saw some massive nasty pollution, wandered the city, surreptitiously took photographs of the probably 3,000 old and possibly 10,000 year old petroglyphs in Gobustan, and hung out near the Zoroastrian Fire temple in Surukhani. (more or less in that order)
- Rostov Velikii We were a big herd that went on this day trip, including me and Giorgio, Elena and Lena, Nastya, and Olessia and Shura.
- Italy! Random important things from Italy, including Bergamo, where I paused for a day, and a few of my favourite fountains in Siena. And, of course, photos from Paganello, the greatest beach frisbee tournament ever! But they aren't mine, I was lazy and so all the frisbee photos were taken by other people. (Thanks for sharing!)
- Berlin Apologies to Kolya, I know you wanted even more pictures than this, but I just didn't find a lot to photograph other than Thomas and Natasha, the friends I went to visit, and their birdfeeder. Berlin is, however, a great city to visit.
- Suzdal and Vladimir We (Giorgio, Daniele, Elena and I) went ostensibly to visit Suzdal, but I tacked Vladimir onto the end. Can you tell them apart? Sadly, I couldn't stand Suzdal. I can imagine the things that make people rave about it, and I allow that summer would be a large part of the charm, but it seemed like a little ghost-village with so many little churches everywhere that they became mundane and ordinary. Vladimir had more personality, and I enjoyed the few hours I wandered around there.
- Jan. 29-30 in Yaroslavl Elena, Daniele, Giorgio, me and Tonya went to Yaroslavl. It was rather chilly, but fun was had by all.
- We went to Tver For a day, we being me, Kolya and Giorgio.
- Kazan! To counteract our misery at 12 days of vacation, we went to Kazan (but only for four of them.) This was me, Giorgio, Elena, Daniele, Galya and Lena. We also took a nice daytrip to the Raifskii Monastery. Note: all of the pictures are finally up! Since there are so many, I may not keep them up though.
- Trip to Kyiv and Crimea A lovely November trip to beat the tourists and see the sights! Well - definitely succeeded, although it rained half the time. Too bad about that tan I was hoping for.
- Travelogue A succinct account of what we did in the Crimea.
- Sergiev Posad Giorgio organised a trip to Sergiev Posad, home of the most remarkable Kremlin in Russia. We went with Daniele, Katya and Elena. Lots of churches and impressive buildings, and it continues to be a working monastery.