January is a month of celebrations and holidays in Russia. Although the country, like the rest of the world, uses the Gregorian calendar from day to day, the Orthodox church uses the Julian calendar which is two weeks behind. This means that Christmas Day falls on 7 January, Old New Year on 14 January, and… Continue reading C новым годом – Happy New Year!
Tag: Winter
Siberia part 2 – Lake Baikal
The drive from Irkutsk to Olkhon island is 4 hours. We set off at 10:00 heading north out of town. Slowly the city sprawl and the villages strung out along the road gave way to a vast nothingness. Mile after mile of a gently undulating, muted, two tone landscape; brown trees, brown grass, brown earth… Continue reading Siberia part 2 – Lake Baikal
A weekend in Zavidovo
This weekend my husband and I went away, as part of a group, to a recreational resort complex on the banks of the rivers Volga and Shosha. The complex, opened during the Soviet times and run by the ‘Ministry of Hospitality’ for the use of diplomats and other ‘foreign representations’, is about 2 hours from… Continue reading A weekend in Zavidovo
Russian Reflections 