Useful links for those who study Russian

The Russian language is quite popular nowadays. Recent political events have caused the interest in Russian culture.

Learning Russian is certainly NOT a piece of cake. So I wish patience to those who's got the nerve to do it. With a little help from your friends you may succeed eventually.

You may watch Russian cartoons  here.  From the Soviet ones to modern. (in Russian, of course)

An extensive and exhaustive collection of classical Russian literature pieces records are here. From Dostoyevsky to Platonov. (in Russian)

Lenfilm (Leningrad Film) production channel which I've recently discovered will introduce you to a great number of classic Russian films of the Soviet period (which most of us, Russians consider the golden age of film production in the country).

The film I particularly adore is "A stranger's wife and a husband under the bed" after Fedor Dostoyevsky's novel, which is one of the lightest comedies portraying the life of the 19th century average man. If you study Russian, there's one more advantage: the language of it is quite simple relating to daily problems and worries which we all might encounter (hopefully, not...))

A number of Russian novels by Gogol, Chekhov, Dostoyevsky were made into movies by Lenfilm. You can also find them on the Youtube channel. 

Russian summer soup or Green shchi.

Russian Cuisine is something not so expansively promoted as Italian Cuisine. However, overall Russian food is healthier if we delve into the subject. Sugar, coffee, cakes were not common in the mostly argricultural country. Such vegetables as beetroot, cabbage, turnip were cooked in stoves (pech') I think if nowadays chefs were not so narrow-mindedly concentrated on making pizzas,  frog's legs or foie Gras  they would learn a lot from what was Russian Cuisine in the past.

Дело против Навального - Дело против меня.

Navalny is changing the whole course of Russian politics.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16057045

“A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history.”
Mahatma Ganndhi
    

Vladimir, Art Centre and some restaurants

The statuette depicting lives of the Russians of 19th century.

The Museum of Local History in Vladimir.

It is as much sad as it is funny.

Vladimir, more sights to see

I've written about some hotels and souvenirs you might bring from Vladimir here and about Vladimir Art Centre here. In this post I 'll write about the Nunnery with mostly preserved frescoes, art gallery, restaurants of Vladimir.

Well, you will certainly enjoy  Uspensky Cathedral: not only Rublev's frescoes but also the rich baroque iconostasis.  However, take a walk around the city: there are many more sights to see.

View Vladimir in a larger map

Vladimir, the Golden Ring of Russia

We went to Vladimir in May but I didn't have time to properly arrange the material so it's a bit late. Here I'm going to write about what guides are like in Russia, our experience of checking in hotels, and nice things you can buy from a souvenir shop.

Vladimir is an administrative centre of the Vladimirsky region about 200 km from Moscow, one of the  cities of the Golden Ring of Russia. Population is about 350 thousand people. The city is older than Moscow(1147),  was founded in 1108.  Since 1157 it was the capital of Russia.

The city is on the Klyaz'ma River and several hills which makes it very picturesque.

It is particularly famous for the Uspensky Cathedral with the restored frescoes by Andrey Rublev and Daniil Cherny (1158) and Dmitrievsky Cathedral (1194). Those are the sights tourists are dragged to by unimaginative tourist agents in Vladimir regardless the fact they could show them more aspects of it.

The picture below is the view of Uspensky Cathedral from the Museum of Local History (ethnographical).

Annual festival "Zerkalo" honouring Andrey Tarkovsky

The festival is called after one of the most remarkable films by Tarkovsky, Zerkalo (the Mirror) 1974.  The film is autobiographical. A famous and irresistible Russian  actress Margarita Terekhova is starring as a protagonist of Andrey's mother.

The beauty of Margarita Terekhova, which the time has spared regardless hard work and much emotional burden of starring in lots of Russian films, is of that rare now kind which enlightens everything around and stands alone, not the kind of "American beauty" that is so standardized that makes people sick. 

The festival takes place at the locations:

A one-day trip to Tver 3

A one-day trip to Tver 1 

A one-day trip to Tver 2 + map

It's high time to tell you about our cafe experience which was truly very pleasant. You know there are towns around Moscow that can boast good cuisine and cosy, stylish restaurants at  prices MUCH lower than those in Moscow. 

However, since the place looked like an ordinary eatery for having snacks,  without any hope for anything special we dropped in Dobrynya Cafe on Sovetskaya street .  

 However, the salad was exceptional. 

A one-day trip to Tver 2

I have started a series of posts about Tver here.

A trip to Tver only takes 1.5-2.5 hours depending on the traffic. Well, for Russians its nothing. In this post I am going to add to the image of Tver as a relaxing and pleasant city.

View Larger Map

The central streets are wide, not cluttered with traffic, clean with impressive architecture enthralling the passers-by.

You can walk both along the Volga or the city centre - anyways you won't be disappointed.

The view from Stepan Razin street across the Volga. 

The Moscow Times June 4th

The following extract is exactly what most people, having access to the Internet or some other sources of information except for official television propaganda, feel like.

The extract is from Vladimir Ryzhkov's article "Guriev is Latest Victim of Putin's Police State".

" ... The new wave of Russian emigration is qualitatively different from that of the 1990s. After the Soviet collapse, Russians emigrated because of the chaos, economic insecurity, widespread poverty and high level of organized crime. Now the most innovative and creative Russians are emigrating because of the complete lawlessness and widespread abuses of the siloviki against law-abiding citizens. Under such conditions, all of the government's ambitious plans for innovation and modernization are meaningless.

When Ivan the Terrible instituted his infamous Oprichnina in Muscovy of the 16th century, nearly one-forth of Russians fled the country in fear, thus leading to the country's defeat in the Livonian War and triggering the period known as the Time of Trouble. Under Putin's police state, we are headed straight for another Time of Trouble in the best-case scenario, if not a total collapse of the Russian State."

The complete text of the article is here. 

Once you're in Moscow the Moscow Times in English is available free in many cafes and restaurants. I normally get it from MacDonald's nearby.

More about repressions of not-alike thinking people here.