Showing posts with label Russia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Russia. Show all posts

Sochi is in Russia

I have a day of nostalgy today. I think about my mother, about my country, about my happy young past days.

My mother lives in Sochi today. You could hear this name maybe. It's a costal city with subtropical climate in Russia. And my mother is there. She has 70 years this year. And I have seen her 3 years ago last time... I'm nostalgic and sad. There is not job here, in Italy, and I can't visit my mother because I have not job. So, I can only look at this photos.

noi 169.jpg

noi 207.jpg

noi 119.jpg

noi 258.jpg

Winter in Moscow

Moscow is a city where I was different times but don't feel it as a place I know good enough. Moscow is too big to know it. Than, it changes very quickly. I found these very interesting photos that show the capital from very interesting point of view. Winter. Not too cold -it seems to me, because there is fog and the water in Moskwa-river is not frozen else. But there is snow on the streets. Beautiful...

Сиреневый туман...
«Сиреневый туман...» на Яндекс.Фотках

Декабрь в Москве
«Декабрь в Москве» на Яндекс.Фотках

Зимние сказки Москвы
«Зимние сказки Москвы» на Яндекс.Фотках

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By the way, if you are interested in river cruises in Europe, in Russia or you would like to sail for  Scandinavia/ Russia or Baltic capitals, you can write me at liudmila-@hotmail.it and we will discuss the possibilities of a splendid dream cruise vacation for you. You can throw a glance on cruise booking online too

Forget or Not Forget?

I've watched the Victory parad on the Red Square. I had very special feeling. But only a day before I could not agree with some persons that said we have not to forget that war. Today I found these photos and, sincerely, think, I was not right yesterday.

I've seen incredibly quantity of the photos of happy German soldiers near their hanged victims. (the last one -exist different photos of smiling soldiers near that girl, she was a partisan)
More photos here: http://zakkusufair.livejournal.com/847510.html?view=4118166#t4118166



Great Lakes: Baikal

With this post I want to begin the discovery of the great lakes and the first of them had to be Baikal. It is my big dream to visit it. I even have relatives that live not too far from this lake, but I never had time to go there. I lived always in the European part of the SU and I needed too much time and money for such a journey. So, I think, it will remain only a dream for me, forever.

But they say, there are different reasons to visit those places.

Байкальские сосны
«Байкальские сосны» на Яндекс.Фотках

First of all, the splendid nature. Than marvelous persons (the people in wild places are very good -something like this I just had in my life when I visited Karelia). Finally great food and mystic places. They tell about real shamans and healers. There are many interesting fishes and animals -there is even a seal there!

Unfortunatelly, my friends write me -and I partecipated at the action of protest too- the government of Russia wants to open a dangerous fabric. And to destroy the entire eco-system.

Вид на Байкал и исток Ангары
«Вид на Байкал и исток Ангары» на Яндекс.Фотках

Jewish Culture/Music/Etc Festivals 2010

 Posters for last year's Quarter6Quarter7 Hanukkah festival in Budapest. Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber



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A number of Jewish culture festivals of all sorts take place around Europe in the spring and summer (and beyond). Some are dedicated just to music. Some to film. Others are much broader. As far as I know, there is no central web site where you can find information on all of them. I will begin to post information here on dates and venues. I ask my readers to please send me information to include!

The culture festivals and other smaller events make good destinations around which to center a trip. Some, like the annual Festival of Jewish Culture in Krakow, are huge events lasting a week or more, which draw thousands of people and offer scores or sometimes hundreds of performances, lectures, concerts, exhibits and the like. Other festivals are much less ambitious. Some are primarily workshops but also feature concerts. Many of the same artists perform at more than one festival.

 The list will be growing and growing -- and again,  I ask my readers to please send me information and links to upcoming events. Thanks!


ALL OVER EUROPE -- 11th annual European Day of Jewish Culture. The first Sunday in September -- Sept. 5. Events take place in nearly 30 countries. The theme this year is Art and Judaism.

AUSTRIA

April 22-27 -- Vienna --  Stay Jewish! (Film Festival)

October 14-November 14 -- Vienna -- Yiddish Culture Autumn (web site under construction)

November 6 -  21 -- Vienna -- KlezMORE festival (this year's program is not up yet)

CROATIA

Aug. 23-31 -- Opatija -- Bejahad 2010


CZECH REPUBLIC

July 8-11 -- Boskovice -- Boskovice Festival. Mainly jazz, but also an emphasis on Jewish culture, given the importance of the well-preserved former Jewish quarter, cemetery and Jewish museum in the restored synagogue.

July 29-31 -- Trebic -- Seventh edition of the Trebic Jewish Culture Festival, held in the Czech Republic's most extensive preserved former Jewish quarter

FRANCE

April 9 - July 18 -- Paris -- Radical Jewish Culture exhibit (and concerts), Jewish Museum

June 13-28 -- Paris --  6th Festival of Jewish Cultures

July 5-9 -- Paris -- Klezmer Paris festival Lots of workshops from an all-star international team of  musicians and teachers.

November 6-13 -- Lyons -- International Jewish Music Festival 

Nov.21-Dec. 13 -- Paris -- Jazz'n'Klezmer festival, 9th edition.

GERMANY

March 5-14  -- Fürth -- Fürth International Klezmer Festival (12th edition)

July 3-August 2  -- Weimar -- Yiddish Summer Weimar

October 17-31 -- Dresden -- The 14th Yiddish Weeks Dresden

November 20-30 -- Munich -- The 24th Jewish Culture Days, Munich (devoted this year to Jewish Berlin)

HUNGARY

April 2-4 -- Budapest -- Mini-Israeli-Film-Festival, Kino cinema club

August 5-8  -- Bank Lake -- Bankito Festival

August 26-Sept. 6 -- Budapest -- Jewish Summer Festival


 ITALY

 March 11 -- Barletta --  Festival Musica Judaica 2009-2010

April 17-21 -- Ferrara -- Festival of the Jewish Book in Italy


April 23-May 23; Sept. 26-Oct. 31 -- Casale Monferrato -- OyOyOy Festival

October 9-13 -- Rome -- International Festival of Jewish Literature

October 23-27 -- Rome -- Kolno'a Israeli Film Festival

NETHERLANDS

April  18-25    -- Leeuwarden -- Yiddish Festival Leeuwarden (takes place every other year)

Oct. 28-31 -- Amsterdam -- International Jewish Music Festival

POLAND

April 9-11 -- Warsaw -- Festival of New Jewish Music

April 20-25 -- Warsaw -- Jewish Motifs International Film Festival

May 23-28 -- Wroclaw -- 12th Simcha Jewish Culture Festival (note -- other events take place May 5-9, with the gala re-opening of the newly restored White Stork Synagogue)

May 15-23 -- Warsaw -- "Otwardatwarda" festival

May 23-26 -- Warsaw --  13th Jewish Book Fair

 June 13-19 -- Sejny -- Musicians' Raft

June -14-16 -- Bialystok -- Zahor Festival of Jewish Culture

June 19-20 -- Chmielnik -- The Eighth "Meetings with Jewish Culture" festival

June 22-26 -- Piotrkow Trybunalski -- Days of Judaism

June 26-July 4 --Krakow -- Festival of Jewish Culture --20th Edition!

 July 13-17 -- Kazimierz Dolny -- Klezmer Music Festival

July 23-25 -- Poznan -- 4th Tzadik Jewish Culture Festival

August 11 -- Lublin -- Shalom. Meetings with Jewish Culture

August 12-14 -- Rymanow -- Shabbat in Rymanow

August 28-Sept. 5 -- Warsaw -- Singer's Warsaw Jewish Culture Festival

October 4-6 -- Slupsk -- Meetings with Jewish Culture 

ROMANIA

May 24-27 -- Timisoara -- Jewish Culture Days


May 26-29 -- Bucharest -- Czech Nine Gates Festival

June 19-22 -- Sighet -- Sighet Jewish Festival

September 2-5 -- Bucharest -- World of Yiddish Festival

RUSSIA

March 29-April 4 -- Moscow -- Yiddish Fest


SWITZERLAND

March 6-April 25 -- Geneva - Printemps Sefarade

U.K.

Feb. 27-March 7 -- London -- Jewish Book Week

June 21-24 -- London -- Cantors Convention

August 8-13 -- London -- KlezFest

Ukraine

July 25 -- L'viv -- LvivKlezFest

October 3-10 -- Kharkov -- Days of Jewish Culture

What is Kizhi?

Кижи
«Кижи» на Яндекс.Фотках

Some days ago I began to write about the antique Russian church architecture. You can remember these 2 posts The Golden Ring of Russia, Russian Churches Of XII Century
where I told about very interesting examples of wooden churches and wanted to write some posts about them.

The first place is entire island -national park, Kizhi, in Karelia Russia, in front of Finnland, where you can see not only churches but different types of houses too. The church on the photo is made without nails, the pieces were made so, that they take one other.

Unfortunatelly, the church is not every day open for tourist to protect precious icons. But the visit is interesting in any case for the walk you can make through the park. And you can visit houses of the population (with guide) too.

Interesting is that all that buildings are real. They were disassembled, taken on the island and assembled once more.

Церковь во имя Покрова пресвятой Богородицы .
«Церковь во имя Покрова пресвятой Богородицы .» на Яндекс.Фотках

The Golden Ring of Russia

These are the "open air museums" not too far from Moscow. Some antique towns with unique architecture from XII century. The region is called Zalesye and the towns are Sergiyev Posad, Pereslavl-Zalesskiy, Rostov Velikiy, Yaroslavl, Kostroma, Ivanovo, Gus-Khrustalny, Suzdal, Vladimir, Rybinsk, Uglich and Alexandrov. (Read Russian Churches Of XII Century too)

Unfortunatelly, I had never the possibility to visit these towns. It's sad, you kow. We travel around the world and do not visit the places of our country, our nation. I know, it's the same for everybody all over the world.

This is Rostov Velikiy (not Rostov -it's another city)

Изображение 154
«Изображение 154» на Яндекс.Фотках

Here is Suzdal

Покровский собор 1530г.Покровский женский монастырь.
«Покровский собор 1530г.Покровский женский монастырь.» на Яндекс.Фотках

Russian Churches Of XII Century

If we want to speak about Russian architecture that I love so much ( The Golden Ring of Russia ), we have to remember the churches of Velikij Novgorod. The pure beauty (inspired by Byzantine art, they say) impress your imagination. So, if you plan to "study" them, don't forget this destination.

The church "Spas At The Nerediza"

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«...» на Яндекс.Фотках

To See In Russia

There were many virtual travels in Russia for me this week. In one of them I knew about "new russian style" in architecture and could confront 2 of the most important, I think, rapresentants of it. It can be that I'm not right in the definition. On the first photo is the original russian stile, on the second photo the "new" :-) On the first photo is the temple built in 1554 (the period was large but I give the rough date). This cathedral is situated in Moscow.

The second, in Sankt Petersburg, finished in 1907, wanted to imitate the first.

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«...........» на Яндекс.Фотках

Храм Воскресения Христова.
«Храм Воскресения Христова.» на Яндекс.Фотках

It's Time To Visit The Most Cold City In The World

Дорога в Якутск
«Дорога в Якутск» на Яндекс.Фотках

Yakutsk. If you want to visit the most cold city in the world you have to understand the peculiarities of the place. The tempersture can reach -50°C (-70°C seems to me was the record) there, but winter is the best time to make this journey. Why? Look at these photos:

Дорога в Якутск
«Дорога в Якутск» на Яндекс.Фотках

Дорога в Якутск
«Дорога в Якутск» на Яндекс.Фотках

But it's a normal modern city with many interesting places, people and things that you will never see elsewhere...

см дальше..
«см дальше..» на Яндекс.Фотках

княжна
«княжна» на Яндекс.Фотках

...and spectacular virgin nature

Усть-Нера, Якутск-Магадан
«Усть-Нера, Якутск-Магадан» на Яндекс.Фотках

Сascades Of Emerald Valley

This is the last post about my mountain-excursion in Emerald Valley in Sochi.
Caucasian Mountain-Tour, "Emerald Valley", first part
Caucasian Mountain-Tour, "Emerald Valley", second part
Dolmens Of The Emerald Valley, Sochi

As I said you, important points of this tour were cascades. In 2 different places. And than dolmens and a witches cave that was closed for visits in that period because dangerous.

I think there are few words to say in this post. The photos tell everthing about the beauty of the place. Incredible and unique beauty. Unfortunatelly I can not tell you the feelings you have there. It's like you are in a temple and the God is here, near you.

By the way, in summer these cascads are full of persons. They come to bath there, in the "plates" that are under every cascade.










Caucasian Mountain-Tour, "Emerald Valley", second part

After the bee's farm we had to stay in our minibus about an hour or two else till we reached the last aul and had to change vehicle.

There are not roads there, so the locals use these military cars, off-roads, to cross their land. We have seen them near every house that were there. I think, every family earns money transporting tourists. Our guide said, there are incredible quantities of persons that want to make a bath in the cascades we had to visit that day.

It was not so far till the house where we had to eat and to rest a little, but ... to reach it we had an other "extreem". Nothing terrible, but it is not very normal, this bridge.

In the house where we had to rest there was an other presentation of local foods. This time they were mostly wines. The daughter of the owner told us about the wines her father makes and we could taste them all. After that "second breackfast" with "chebureki" (puff pastry with meat inside -mmmmm.....) and we were ready to continue. After that good wine and 4 hours of the car I did not want other as sleep, sincerely, ...





I have to say you with all sincerity: when I came home and looked at my arm and side, I was afraid to see all that parts of my body black from bruises. Thanks God I did not look at my butt...

Caucasian Mountain-Tour, "Emerald Valley", first part

As promised in my previous posts, I wanted to tell you about a mountain-tour with light extreme I participate when I was in Sochi.

For me, the greatest extreme in that tour were tight deep-lunged torques that continued every 50-100 meters all the 4-5 hours that we needed to reach the place and than -to turn back from there, after the visit. Imagine that we were only about 70-90 km from center of Sochi but we needed 4-5 hours for one way.

I remember when I came in Sochi for the first time, it was in 80-th. There was the same torques way from Adler (where there is airport) till Sochi. They built a new highway from Adler some years ago, and you need only about 40 minutes to come in the center now. But in this, opposite, side of the region, you can admire the original mountain-roads. As you see on my photo.

Somebody told me once that it was a simple method to build ways in the mountains: to follow the steps of an ass. Because the asses knew where and how to go.

We were in a minibus with guide Golubkova Elena and driver Ruslan. They went with us till the last point of the tour. And it was hard enough, you will see it in my next posts. Here I want to show you only some photos from the road to taste the first beauties of the mountains of Caucasus.

This first is a general look on a mountain river how it is near the sea. It is river Shakhe, I think.

This other photo -to show you the mountain-road. Do you see that line in the middle of the photo? With rocks over and rocks under? Nice, no? It's a canyon of the river Ashe.

The first stop on our way was in a bee's farm. The owners built this pavilion where they have an exhibition hall of all products they have to sell. As you see on the second photo, there are many different products and they are really superb while produced in this zone. The team told us many interesting things about honey and it's derivative, we could taste some different honeys. Than we could buy everything we saw there.

We were at the beginning of our way and bought only glasses of "medovukha" -honey-wine. Mmmm... Great!!!



Continue next time...