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dressing down 2008-03-05 08:30:55 I hate going to get my hair cut.
By way of comparison, imagine this – a small child has just shattered a cookie jar, and is standing there, looking guilty amongst shards of crockery and biscuit crumbs, being greeted with the inevitable rhetorical ‘who did that?’
When I’m in the hot seat and the hairdresser asks what [...]
valley of the trolls 2008-03-02 04:55:12 Want an interesting way to spend a day in Tampere? (For a pronunciation clue, that all rhymes…)
It’s not that hard to figure out what to do – for Tampere, Finland, is the home of Moomin Valley, the Moomin museum! Moomins are comic book trolls created by Finnnish writer Tove Jansson. The series has achieved renown [...]
when is a blini not a blini? 2008-02-28 13:08:22 The French don’t usually get things wrong in the kitchen. But I’m perpetually confused when I hear people talking about blini here. The term “blini”, in my understanding of the issue, is Russian for crêpes. Maybe the difference (perhaps?) is that the French product is “blini”, while the Russian “блины” should be transliterated as “bliny.” [...]
lent, borrowed, stolen… 2008-02-26 07:59:37 When it comes to religious matters, I’m usually left in the liturgical dark. I’m interested in as far as cultural feasts and festivals, but I always get things a little confused.
For instance, when I was a kid, I heard that an old cure for hiccups was to say ten Ave Marias. So I did just [...] Read more:stolen
paris-brussels for 30€ 2008-02-24 04:00:01 I see that the Thalys train is offering a special price of 30€ on their Paris-Brussels return tickets – but there’s a catch – it’s only for the night owls!
If you’re young enough (sorry, it’s not just at heart either), feel like leaving Paris at 20:25 or 21:55 on a Saturday night and returning at [...]
world peace (for dummies) 2008-02-22 03:30:14 Now I’m not one for philosophy, but writing about my Caucasian cognac picnic in the last post brought all the memories flooding back to me.
After a few cognacs chased by lush dark chocolate (I was only in it for the chocolate, honest), my Pre-Elbrus Region National Park ranger and I started talking about the big [...] Read more:world peace
cognac picnic: part 2 2008-02-20 02:17:39 So I’d just gotten into a “roosky djeep” with one of the strangest of strangers. He was fully decked out in an ensemble of army camouflage hand-me-downs (not that there’s anything particularly unusual or ominous about this in Russia), and had shed his carload of passengers to take me to some tenth century Alanian ruins [...]
cognac picnic: part 1 2008-02-19 02:14:34 Speaking of oddball Russian stories, let me tell you the one how I almost went on a day trip to Georgia…
I was staying in a “tour base” about 4km from a grocery store, café and mosque on the main road between Tyrnyauz and Terskol, which impressively dead-ends at Mount Elbrus. The reason I was there [...]
skiing in switzerland 2008-02-18 06:31:47 I’m going to Switzerland at the end of February, which I’m most excited about.
Hold on – that sentence sounded most Jane Austen-esque (overly romantic sentiments conveyed through stilted dialogue). I’d better stop myself there before I get charged with an insult to Eliza Bennet offence.
But there is a reason I’ve been conveyed back to the [...]
long distance relationships 2008-02-17 02:45:44 I intended to write and post this for Valentine’s Day, but – of course – I forgot. So it will just have to convey my very best belated well-wishes to everyone out there in Blogland.
I once met a couple who had a pretty geographically extreme relationship. A “mere” 7350 kilometres separated their birthplaces – but [...] Read more:distance
on the slopes (day one) 2008-03-12 15:46:51 Now I don’t know what hurts worst – my shins or my pride. I know that they say the first day skiing is the most painful, but I didn’t remember exactly how mentally scarring it could be.
Beautiful but painful!
My history of skiing isn’t great. I come from a ski-buff family who are not only very [...]
lone ranger 2008-03-11 13:48:06 I get a lot done when left to wander by myself.
I love to walk around pointlessly – or seemingly so. There is always something to see or a topic to muse over to the soundtrack of footsteps. It’s not like I’m some recreated nineteenth century Parisian flâneur wannabe (the stock character of the grands boulevards [...]
crans-montana 2008-03-10 14:23:33 Enough of my fears that I was being transported to a nineteenth century thermal bath somewhere in the Swiss Alps, I’ve actually found myself at the Crans-Montana ski resort in the predominantly French-speaking canton of Valais… and let me tell you – I’m quite chuffed about it. I now know what people mean about the [...]
happy women’s day! 2008-03-08 01:25:06 To all the ladies out there, have a happy International Women’s Day!
If you happen to be in Russia, there’s special cause to celebrate, as Women’s Day is recognised as a national holiday – and one of my favourite prazdniki!
It’s much more fun than Men’s Day (which goes under the sub-heading of Day of the Army [...]
skiin’ safari (day two) 2008-03-13 13:20:38 Let’s go skiin’ now, everybody’s learning how…
I’m considerably more optimistic today. It’s amazing the wonders that can be done for any unconfident and bruised Day 2 skier by trawling the beginners’ slopes until reaching the stage of bored to tears. I’m feeling much better about spotting and avoiding the ice (which is, I’ve realised, much [...]
day of rest (day 5) 2008-03-16 15:01:23 Sunday, being my day off, was spent similarly to my days on… skiing.
The only exception was that I was able to spend the whole day on the slopes, only stopping for a cake and hot chocolate “hospitably” provided by the CMA (Crans-Montana-Aminona Domaine Skiable) in the form of a ten Swiss franc voucher [...]
ski hols (day 4) 2008-03-15 11:50:10 Today I felt that my Crans-Montana mountain dreams had come true. The crowds abated, the runs were smooth and clean… It’s a pity I couldn’t see more than half a metre in front of me, but I can’t have everything or else I’d just be spoilt!
Instead of the Saturday morning rush that I had expected, [...]
mountain high 2008-03-18 03:07:35 Speaking about serious mountain intoxication, it’s time to expand on my list of favourite things that have been pieced together slowly in this blog: Nicholas Roerich.
This would be the moment I get all sappy and gush about how much I could just melt into one of his paintings, but I’ll restrain from too much cringe-worthy [...]
back to reality… 2008-03-20 06:01:58 There’s not much to mention about my final day of skiing, other than the huge dump of snow of all over the mountain, especially in the mid and lower sections. As a result, our house had a fresh covering and even the village was transformed into a magical place. Unfortunately for the skiing, the fresh [...] Read more:reality
wild open spaces 2008-03-22 02:14:47 While it was otherwise, and I’m almost sorry to say this, filled with bollocks – the magazine La vie à Crans-Montana (“Switzerland’s Prestige Magazine”) interestingly introduced one of their articles with:
‘The Russians appreciate Switzerland in winter for its prepared ski slopes and high-tech facilities; the Helvetians adore Russia for its wide open wild spaces
.’
Which got [...]
kirovsk 2008-03-24 12:14:22 I learned a lot on my trip to Kirovsk though, and pretty much answered my question of “what are people doing living there?” in the Apatity Geological Museum. Apparently the Kola Peninsula region – the “most Soviet” of areas, having been established in the mid-twentieth century – was populated to exploit mineral wealth. Mineral exploration [...]
whole world in your hands 2008-03-26 02:45:13 Call my curiosity limited, but I can’t understand why anyone would spend any time wondering if there was life in outer space. There is plenty of life on Earth to contemplate, why bother going any further?
Luckily enough, Paris spares me the issue of donning my ethnographer’s hat or safari cap, and has already collected and [...]
swiss-oholic 2008-03-30 09:42:41 Switzerland is a small mountainous country, whose climate is anything but tropical.
It never had any colonies in cocoa-growing countries in South America, or Africa, or anywhere else.
It may seem surprising that it has become one of the world’s leading chocolate manufacturers.
Now that you mention it, swissworld.org, it does seem strange. I’d never wondered about [...]
final countdown 2008-03-28 07:16:03 Look, I know my blog is ranked up there with the foremost official world news sources, so I thought it was high time for a Eurovision 2008 update!
It’s less than two months now before all the hilarity of Europe’s #1 pop piss-take (oh, what? They’re serious? No, I can’t believe it!) and I for one [...]
april fools 2008-04-01 07:09:17 I can never resist a moment of sublime irony. That’s why, when I stumbled across this great post and photo by Svet & Kyle Keeton on Windows to Russia, I couldn’t resist sharing it with everyone.
The sign in front of the veritable wall of local (Klinskoye, Bochkarev, Baltika, Nevskoye) and foreign (Kronenbourg, Carlsberg, Zlatopramen, Bavaria, [...]
where I rest my head… 2008-04-03 03:44:24 Maybe you’ve stumbled across my blog in search of some travel advice and found it sorely amiss. Or not. Either way, I thought I’d include some budget travel advice for anyone out there considering travelling across Russia without an extensive network of couch-surfing buddies.
This is a handy hint that I only found recommended in one [...]
tatarstan super good 2008-04-05 06:44:01 Speaking of Kazan, it’s an amazing city to see for the World Heritage kremlin site (and to eat sweet Tatar treats and traditional triangular meat pastries, but that’s a whole other story!). Housing the sixteenth-century Annunciation Cathedral, the legendary Söyembikä Tower and the remarkable Qol-Şärif mosque, the Kazan Kremlin is stunning.
As I’m always one for [...]
gott is in the house… 2008-04-07 01:16:42 Here’s one from the memory archives, lifted out tenderly and gently disposed of all its accumulated dust… let’s just call it ‘fame brushes past’ and go from there in all its glory.
It all took place some years ago in a Turkish coffee shop, on the ascent to Prague Castle. I was with a Slovakian friend [...]
british museum 2008-04-09 04:29:20 The British Museum is shrouded in controversy, and for a long time, it was my arch-nemesis. Wherever I went in Mexico, Greece or Cambodia, it seemed the British Museum had already beaten me to the bounty. I would rant long and loud about colonial piracy and academic pillage to anyone who would be unfortunate enough [...]
hermitage 2008-04-11 03:38:20 Speaking about the politics of plunder, it seems like a logical next step to go from the British Museum to the State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg. Don’t get me wrong though, it’s one of my favourite places in the world. I have spent as many hours marvelling at London goldsmith and jeweller James Cox’s Peacock [...]
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