I spent yesterday in the sun. First outside the morgue and then at the beach. Funeral services in the Orthodox Church were at 1, so the Legotkins and I got to the morgue at around 11 am. There a a number of families had gathered outside under the hot sun, each waiting to collect their loved ones. We joined them. After a death, Russians usually keep the body at home and have the burial three days later. The heat, however, had created a high demand for the morgue's services. Outside the morgue, you could smell why. Many of the mourners-in-waiting held [View Full Entry]

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OH! I wanted to point something out to guys. Scroll down to the pictures of the sculpture of David, by Michelangelo. I was telling my Dad in an email the other day why I have so many pictures of this one statue. It is because David is my favorite Bible character, and this sculpture of David is a piece of absolute perfection. You'll see that I also took pictures specifically of his hands. They are, in fact, disproportionate to the size of the rest of his body. I am told that this is meant to emphasize that which is most vital [View Full Entry]

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First, I am still alive and well but have been busy doing all sorts of things and have not made the time to update my blog with pictures and stories from the cruise. I started the blog entry but have not finished nor have I uploaded the pictures. Believe or not, I just got them organized today and only because I am meeting with some of the people from cruise are live here in Moscow on Sunday and they wanted to exchange copies of each of our pictures. I knew they did not want 2 GB of pictures so I cut [View Full Entry]

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Sveta's grandmother was supposed to be buried today, but the Russian state's obsession for proper documentation has made this impossible. This morning, Sveta and I made our way to the funeral home to get flowers and arrange everything prior to the arrival of the guests. The fading wallpaper, and United Russia wall calenders (United Russia is the ruling political party) , and especially the slick attendents whose nameplates read "experts," recalled real estate offices and lower end car dealerships in the United States. A man with half buttoned shirt explained that because the certificate of death had not arrived in time, [View Full Entry]

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Hei folkens! Dette blir siste oppdatering fra Russland for denne gang. I morgen gaar toget vaart fra Sankt Petersburg til Helsinki, og resten av ferien blir bare en sjarmoeretappe hjem til Oslo. Vi er endelig ferdige med russiske tog for denne gang. Ulaanbaatar til Sankt Petersburg er ikke en ubetydelig avstand, og vi har tilbakelagt mange kilometer og mange timer paa tog. Det er baade spennende og slitsomt aa reise paa tredje klasse i Russland. Spennende, fordi vi faar et innblikk i hvordan den jevne russer tilbakelegger store avstander, og slitsomt, fordi dette ogsaa innebaerer alle deres lyder og lukter. Saa [View Full Entry]

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After two days of a Russian guide talking in my ear (radio mike and headsets!), I feel that I may almost know something about the great historic city of St Petersburg. For a city that’s barely 300 years old its undergone more change than could be imagined. Our travels have taken us into two opulent cathedrals. The Church on Spilled Blood whose entire interior (wall, ceiling, pillars) is mosaic - 7000 square metres of scenes from the old testament and plenty of gold. Outside the church has many turrets and orbs also of mosaic. If I understood correctly, the church was [View Full Entry]

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Back once again with the blogging master! And you thought you'd heard the last of me, ha ha, no chance!! So, here I am in deepest darkest Russia. Well, Moscow to be precise. Not very deep and not at all dark (last night it was light until 11ish). Even though I'm here for work and not holiday, I thought that doing a blog would still be a good idea as it might be of interest to some people (well, to my Mum at the very least!). The flight out here started the trip off nicely as I got upgraded to business [View Full Entry]

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Despite it being close to midnight and another early start tomorrow, we can’t possibly go to sleep. Firstly its still light out (white nights), and we have to tell you about our fantastic night at the ballet. Swan Lake. As we entered the exquisite theatre, I heard myself mutter those infamous words “Tell Billy his family are here” !! (Billy Elliott). First off we had amazing seats, front row, well for five minutes before we got ousted. Anyway, our actual seats were better with a great view of the stage. Although the St Petersburg dance company were away on tour, we [View Full Entry]

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Morning! Following another lazy day at sea yesterday we have arrived in St Petersburg. Guess What? Yep! A band. A six piece russian brass band and drummer madly playing lively tunes as we docked and the first herds of people took off into St Petersburg. This time we are docked in a cargo port, so its not pretty - a tin shed, and hundreds of crates, forklifts and cranes. The city is a 30 minute drive away and we will head in later, followed by a trip back in to the ballet later! Yesterday included photography class number 2 with Matt [View Full Entry]

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Atrepultunk a Bajkal felett. An 24essel. NAgy volt. Majd reszletezzuk. [View Full Entry]

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