MOSCOW WALKS: KOLOMENSKOYE & BOTANICAL GARDENS in Early Spring

March 8th is the International Women’s Day. In Russia it is also an unofficial start of Spring. The reason for this association is probably the custom of giving flowers to all the women in one’s life – family, romantic, platonic, professional. The resulting abundance of blooms everywhere screams “Spring Is in the Air!” In reality,…

I MISS NY: Springtime in the City

I like living in Moscow. I really do. I love being close to my family, the beauty of the Kremlin at night, dill and sour cream with everything, Tretyakov Gallery on weekdays, the insane job that drives me absolutely insane, first and last shashlyk barbecue of the season at Kolomenskoye, horses, countryside, two weeks of…

MOSCOW’S MOST FESTIVE EASTER EVER

Moscow REALLY turned up Easter this year. Word on the street was, city officials have decided that with all the #sanctions, ruble woes, Ukraine and endless winter the people needed some extra cheering up this year. And so, Christmas decorations stayed up all the way through March, only to be immediately replaced by Easter decorations…

RUSSIAN SPRING IN RUSSIAN ART – May

May in Russia is about Labor Day and Victory Day, about eating outside and smelling the roses (well, ok, lilacs and tulips mostly). It’s about long days, first thunderstorms and getting the taste of Summer up ahead.  Russian Spring – April Russian Spring – March Russian Winter – 2 Russian Winter – 1 Russian Autumn –…

SPRING AND THE CITY

Last week I was asked what is my favorite place to go to in the Spring. My answer might seem frustratingly vague, but here it is: my favorite place to be in the Spring, in Moscow is…an outdoor cafe. It doesn’t matter where it’s located, or the kind of food it serves, or how good…

RUSSIAN SPRING IN RUSSIAN ART – April

From the white of the remaining snow to the green of new foliage, from yellow buds mat’-i-macheha, to red Easter  eggs, April is when Russian landscape starts to get its color variety back. More Russian Seasons & Nature in Russian Art: Russian Spring – March Russian Winter – 2 Russian Winter – 1 Russian Autumn –…

THE RITES OF SPRING

Spring has been slow to come to Moscow this year. In fact, most of March and the first half of April looked and felt like like preceding December and February (we got a couple of weeks of proper frosts and a dusting of snow in January): temperatures in single digits Celsius, grey skies, wilted green-ish…