It is a long drive to Yosemite from the nearest town. In fact, it is thirty miles from the entrance gate to the overlook where we had our first view of the Yosemite Valley. There is a tunnel just before the pull off so it is opening of the stage curtain at the beginning of a performance. The view is more spectacular than any photograph can capture. I can see why John Muir fell in love with this area and spent the rest of his life exploring the Sierras. Neither of us had read any of his writings before this trip. [View Full Entry]

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We left the house as soon as we could, heading to the Shenandoah National Park to hike in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains. As we drove we decided to hike down Doyles Run, but changed our mind at the restaurant-service station that is located at milepost 81. The lady working behind the counter said neither falls currently had any water flowing over them but she liked the hike down to the Jones Run waterfall. She said to her it is a more beautiful hike since you are walking under an overhanging canopy of trees. Also we had read that this hike [View Full Entry]

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Alexander P. told me that the word Kremlin simply means wall. I had always thought that the word was the name of one specific place, but there are many Kremlins in Russia. After A.P. told me the meaning I looked at several maps in our guidebook and saw that other towns also have a Kremlin. So because Moscow is the capital of Russia and the seat of government is there, the one in Moscow is the most famous and the only one I knew about. Since then I did a bit of research and found that the word Kremlin can mean [View Full Entry]

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Alexander P. told me that the word Kremlin simply means wall. I had always thought that the word was the name of one specific place, but there are many Kremlins in Russia. After A.P. told me the meaning I looked at several maps in our guidebook and saw that other towns also have a Kremlin. So because Moscow is the capital of Russia and the seat of government is there, the one in Moscow is the most famous and the only one I knew about. Since then I did a bit of research and found that the word Kremlin can mean [View Full Entry]

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The seminary was founded in 1993 is located in the Eastern part of Moscow, a twenty minute walk from the Shosse Entuzistov subway stop on the Yellow Line. An industrial and business area lies between the subway station and the seminary. At various times of the day the four-lane street is absolutely deadlocked and walking is faster than taking a bus, minibus, or taxi. Crossing the street is an adventure; as the Muscovites seem to be as bad as Annapolitans about stopping for a pedestrian in a crosswalk, so take fair warning if you are ever in Moscow. Be very [View Full Entry]

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When I went to Prague last August-September, I met a very interesting young woman. She was beginning her studies for the Certificate in Applied Theology. My friend Katharina had told me Olysea was scared to speak English. It seems for some reason that almost no one is scared to talk to me even when they are just beginning to learn English and I knew she had to have a good vocabulary to be admitted to this program. So, I found her at lunch that day and started to make friends. She didn’t seem very shy to me and we soon were [View Full Entry]

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June 17, 2006 Outside the Kremlin, on the side opposite Red Square, there is a nice park. Statues depicting characters from Russian fairy tales have been placed in the stream, making it a most interesting stream. We liked the statues very much and were surprised to learn that along with other statues recently placed in the city most Muscovites do not enjoy these innovations. [View Full Entry]

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Today and yesterday are big holidays here. They are the Independence Day celebrations when the USSR broke up and the CIS was formed. We went as close to Red Square as we could. Today it was roped off awaiting the evening's festivities. We could see the famous churches, Kremlin, etc. from a block or two away. But our object today was to get Metro subway tickets and to start to learn how to get around on the subway. It was hot for me (Nancy) in the sun. But Alexander had on his winter long sleeved sweat shirt and a jacket. I [View Full Entry]

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I, Nancy, take full credit for one of the nicest experiences of our whole stay in Moscow. I read our guide book and found that there was a park in town which was considered a 'must-see'. It certainly sounded good and the directions were clear as far as I knew. So, I asked if we could venture in this direction on our second trip away from the seminary alone. Alexander had taken us to the Red Square subway stop on our first working day and we had returned there on Saturday. I thought we could be a little brave and head [View Full Entry]

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The State Historical Museum stands at one end of Red Square, beside the Resurrection Gate and houses a large collection of items. The rooms are worth the price of admission even if there were no exhibits in the rooms. They were designed by very famous Russian architects and often are copies of rooms in other extremelybeautiful Russian buildings. As we moved from room to room, we were continually awed by the beautiful ceilings. We hope you enjoy the photos of several of them. We will try to publish pictures of some of the exhibits in the building in another blog entry [View Full Entry]

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