The ice is nice too!!
Monday, 17 December 2007
The Nutcracker Clara wakes
Yes, it is really Christmas now – we went to see Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker”. It was fabulous! We both loved it, though, I have to say the highlight of the evening wasn’t the fabulous dancing or the wonderful music; it was a little girl sitting next to us. She must have been about three years old and, near the end of the performance, she stood up and started to jump and pirouette. She was adorable!
This is something we are very much enjoying in Russia. At times life gets rather depressing here, at least for us anyway! As it's close to the shortest day of the year it gets light about 10 am and is dark just after 4. It's often quite dull during the day too. I'm sure this isn't helping. The weather hasn't been too cold and it's pretty when it snows, though. We aren't sleeping very well as it's still rather warm inside with the heating on. (You can't control it as it's the same temperature for the whole building.) I also think we are used to being more active and being out and about doing lots of things, but the options here are rather limited for us. On the other hand I've been rather tired. In fact, neither of us is feeling 100% either. We're not exactly ill but just under the weather. Maybe it is the weather! I'm a little bored too, especially with food as options are rather limited and I've been getting lazy when it comes to cooking. I need to get my act together!
This is something we are very much enjoying in Russia. At times life gets rather depressing here, at least for us anyway! As it's close to the shortest day of the year it gets light about 10 am and is dark just after 4. It's often quite dull during the day too. I'm sure this isn't helping. The weather hasn't been too cold and it's pretty when it snows, though. We aren't sleeping very well as it's still rather warm inside with the heating on. (You can't control it as it's the same temperature for the whole building.) I also think we are used to being more active and being out and about doing lots of things, but the options here are rather limited for us. On the other hand I've been rather tired. In fact, neither of us is feeling 100% either. We're not exactly ill but just under the weather. Maybe it is the weather! I'm a little bored too, especially with food as options are rather limited and I've been getting lazy when it comes to cooking. I need to get my act together!
Saturday, 1 December 2007
icicle obsession 004
This is something I was expecting! I'd not really thought about icicles but I love them! They are fabulous growing creatures. This is my favourite photo so far. Keep an eye out for more.
Monday, 12 November 2007
Bridge over the Kama River
It's a little bit cold! Yesterday, when I took this photo it was 6 degrees below zero - today it's more like 10!!
Monday, 29 October 2007
Swan Lake
Why Russia? Well, the music, the ballet, the books, the arts in general!
What could be better than going to see Tchaikovski's Swan Lake in Russia at an opera house named after Tchaikovski? (Rhetorical question - I'm sure many people can think of great things to do but it was wonderful!!)
I was given the tickets for my birthday and, after a month, the wait was over. Rafa and I both enjoy classical music and studied at school. (He played the clarinet and piano; I played flute and piano. I actually did music A-level many years ago.) Even though we are not big ballet fans we both thoroughly enjoyed Swan Lake last night. The dancing was amazing and it was great to recognise the music too. I actually had ballet classes for a couple of years as a child and have seen the Nutcracker a couple of times. I've also seen a couple of other ballets. However, I'd never seen Swan Lake. This is, hopefully, the first of several visits to the ballet. It's cheap, close to our house and fabulous! What more could you ask for?
You're not actually supposed to take photos and I actually hadn't intended to any way as I'm a different person with a camera in my hand - I'm looking for photos rather than enjoying the music or dance. However, at the end when the dancers were bowing and taking their well-earned applause, lots of people were taking photos to I took this one. It's not a great photo but you get the idea. We had great seats - in row 8. It's actually quite a small theatre. The acoustics were great, as was the view, and the atmosphere wonderful. There were many families there and children as small as about 4 or 5. Everyone seemed to really enjoy it. I know we did.
BTW the ballet in Perm is famous here in Russia, second only to the Kirov from St. Petersburg. It turns out that during World War II the Kirov relocated to Perm away from the fighting.
What could be better than going to see Tchaikovski's Swan Lake in Russia at an opera house named after Tchaikovski? (Rhetorical question - I'm sure many people can think of great things to do but it was wonderful!!)
I was given the tickets for my birthday and, after a month, the wait was over. Rafa and I both enjoy classical music and studied at school. (He played the clarinet and piano; I played flute and piano. I actually did music A-level many years ago.) Even though we are not big ballet fans we both thoroughly enjoyed Swan Lake last night. The dancing was amazing and it was great to recognise the music too. I actually had ballet classes for a couple of years as a child and have seen the Nutcracker a couple of times. I've also seen a couple of other ballets. However, I'd never seen Swan Lake. This is, hopefully, the first of several visits to the ballet. It's cheap, close to our house and fabulous! What more could you ask for?
You're not actually supposed to take photos and I actually hadn't intended to any way as I'm a different person with a camera in my hand - I'm looking for photos rather than enjoying the music or dance. However, at the end when the dancers were bowing and taking their well-earned applause, lots of people were taking photos to I took this one. It's not a great photo but you get the idea. We had great seats - in row 8. It's actually quite a small theatre. The acoustics were great, as was the view, and the atmosphere wonderful. There were many families there and children as small as about 4 or 5. Everyone seemed to really enjoy it. I know we did.
BTW the ballet in Perm is famous here in Russia, second only to the Kirov from St. Petersburg. It turns out that during World War II the Kirov relocated to Perm away from the fighting.
Monday, 22 October 2007
Hohlovka 116 transfiguration church
And, of course, the buildings were amazing - this chruch was my favourite.
Hohlovka fishing
Though this fabulous view is not the main reason for visitin Hohlovka, it was certainly beautiful.
Hohlovka 065 little man
Yesterday we went to an open-air museum called Hohlovka. As you can see it’s made up of traditional wooden buildings which have been taken from various parts of the Perm Region and reconstructed on site. It’s set in beautiful forest next to the Kama River. was absolutely beautiful and we both thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, as did Alex. We were also lucky with the weather as it was about 8 degrees and didn’t rain. Hohlovka is about 40km from Perm.
I fell in love with this little guy and wanted to bring him home! There was no gift shop or anything so I couldn't even buy one. Not to worry - he'd be too big to put in my suitcase!
I fell in love with this little guy and wanted to bring him home! There was no gift shop or anything so I couldn't even buy one. Not to worry - he'd be too big to put in my suitcase!
Saturday, 20 October 2007
good luck 11th Oct
This little guy lives in our flat and is for good luck (and money - that's a thousand rouble note you can see - about 500 pesos or about 12 pounds.)
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