Russia is (not) the mother of all evil
Is Russia “Mother of all evil”? This is my 5th visit to Russia from New Zealand and I have a lot of thoughts about freedom of speech and our government(s). Please read this to...
Category: Russia
The Marble Palace in Saint Petersburg (must see)
The marble palace is a (relatively) small palace built palace was built in 1768 by Count Grigory Orlov, one of the most powerful Russian nobleman of the 1760s, during the ruling of Empress Catherine the...
First nail in the Dacha, last nail in your coffin
The Dachas – the country houses that many Russians own – are one of Russia’s strongest social and cultural phenomena. About half of the people I met in Russia own Dachas, and all of...
The 5 branches of the Russian Museum
The Russian museum of Saint Peteresburg is the second most important set of museums after the Hermitage, and a must see. It consists of 5 different large museums, each one is a master piece...
“Versailles is smoking in the corner” (Yekaterines I palace at Pushkin)
“Versailles is smoking in the corner” is an urban Russian saying to describe the beauty and magnitude of the Yekaterina’s palace: usually small people are smoking in the corner in order not to disturb...
Historical sand statues – Peter and Paul fortress beach
Look at those magnificent sand statues… Once a year, as part of the Saint Petersburg day celebrations, at Peter and Paul Fortress (on the bank of the Neva river, Saint Petersburg) a group of...