Ivan Stupachenko:
American Ship In The Center of St. Petersburg
Photo credit: www.wikipedia.com
Russia is celebrating its victory in the WWII, and in Moscow and St. Petersburg solemn military parades are held.
Our city is being visited by an American naval ship, frigate USS Kauffman, to symbolize the help that was given by the Americans to the Soviet Union in 1941-1945 to defeat the fascism. Let’s think the figate has come to celebrate the common victory instead of Barack Obama who stayed at home.
The staff of the frigate will visit one of the St. Petersburg’s...
May 9th, 2010 | St Petersburg | Read More
The Day of the Great Victory In WWII
If you happen to visit St. Petersburg (or any other city in Russia) on May 9, you will touch one of the most important event here. Namely “touch”, I mean, you will be deeply involved since it’s about the day when the Hitler’s Germany surrended to the Soviet Union and its allies. In Europe it happened on May 8, in the USSR it was already May 9.
That’s the greatest festival for all Russians, so you may be even surprised how widely it’s being celebrated, but you...
April 27th, 2010 | St Petersburg | Read More
The Best Russian Landscape Master’s Exhibition
Silence. 1898
“If you see a telega, then paint a telega, if you see a cow, paint what you see, try to paint what you feel, the feeling that you have when seeing a picture of nature”. This is a quote from the greatest landscape masters of the generation of Russian painters to which such masters as Ilya Repin or Viktor Vasnetsov belonged. These are words of Isaak Levitan.
In 2010 we celebrate the 150th anniversary of Levitan’s birthday, and that is a reason for which The Russian...
April 24th, 2010 | St Petersburg | Read More
The Roerich’s Century: Half a Month Left
The Victory, 1942. By Nicholas Roerich
Until May, 16 you can visit a unique exhibition dedicated to the activity of the Roerich’s family, whose members managed to contribute to a few fields: ethnography, archeology, literature, painting, philosophy, education, and many more. What is unique is that this is the first exhibition that covers the activity of the Roerichs as a whole, of all the members and of all the filds.
The detailed information is given on the web-site of the event with all...
April 22nd, 2010 | St Petersburg | Read More
The Most Unusual Bridge in St. Petersburg
The main thing about this strange object, called The Blue Bridge, is that it is really enormous. You would hardly guess that’s a bridge if you are not told this.
Just look at the picture at the top of the post. What do you see? Looks like a square or a wide street, doesn’t it? But this is a bridge! Its width is 97,3 meters, three times more than its length. Two pictures below let you see it from two opposite sides, left and right.
Built in the XVIIIth century as a narrow wooden bridge,...
April 21st, 2010 | St Petersburg | Read More
Cruiser Aurora: Warship Number One in Russia
Every Soviet pupil till the USSR’s collapse in 1991 knew the name of the most prominent warship in the country: Cruiser Aurora. It was so called “Ship №1″ of the Soviet navy.
Now it’s a museum, but Aurora was given this honor not only because of its military achievements which, to be honest, were not outstanding, though the ship, undoubtedly, contributed to the performance of Russia in the wars in 1904-1905 and WWI. It was not then the USSR, but a Russia governed by the...
April 20th, 2010 | St Petersburg | Read More
A Good Ukrainian Restaurant
Puzata Hata is the name of an Ukranian restaurant that can be easily understood by any Russian, but I cannot accurately translate it into English. Well, Puzata refers to a situation when you can say “I’m full”. And Hata means a flat, but not an urban flat in jungles of glass and concrete. It’s a house in a village.
So, the name of the restaurant sends us to an Ukrainian village with nice houses, very large gardens and farms, delivering great amount of delicious food.
Since...
April 19th, 2010 | St Petersburg | Read More
Ballet in 3D. Live. Really, No Joke
For the first time in history, those who have equipment for receiving a 3D signal and watching programs will be able to ejoy themselves with ballet. This milestone event takes place on April 15.
The Mariinsky theater will be broadcasting a short, 50-minute, hala-concert, consisting of a few of best numbers ever performed at the theater.
An open signal can be received by viewers in Russia and other European countries. The concert starts at 18.00 Moscow, 15.00 UTC\GMT.
Unfortunately, despite the...
April 9th, 2010 | St Petersburg | Read More
Blasts in Moscow, St. Petersburg Is Calm
I think you have heard this bad news about terrorism blasts on two Moscow subway stations. Though St. Petersburg has not been affected this time, additional security measures have been taken to enhance safety level.
The police was ordered to pay more attention to passengers, to check all suspicious people and things. The same instructions were given to those guarding airport Pulkovo and railway stations. Staff of transport companies and public services were instructed what to do in emergency.
But,...
March 29th, 2010 | St Petersburg | Read More
Spend The Fool’s Day With Clowns in Theatre
One of the most famous theatres in Russia and one of the most famous Russian theatres abroad, the Licedei (histrionics), the clowns that have been working since 1968, performs on April 1 with a show called, as you may guess, “The foolish day”. Indeed, what could they do on that day else? What can you?
You can not only sit and watch and enjoy yourself with a superb pantomime playing interrupted by bursts of laugh. The Licedei are creating a show coupled with hearty meal and drinks just...
March 28th, 2010 | St Petersburg | Read More
Ballet Festival “Dance Open” in St. Petersburg
On April 2 do not miss a concert performed by a team of world-scale ballet stars. Incredibly high-profile “stuff” will be dancing within the IX International Ballet Festival “Dance Open”. It starts on March 28 and is crowned by the gala- concert I write about. Detailed schedule you find at the official site of the event.
Dancers taking part in the show present leading troups, mostly from Europe: Bayerisches Staatsballet, Staatsoper Berlin (botrh from Germany), The Grand...
March 27th, 2010 | St Petersburg | Read More
Ryanair: Getting Closer to St. Petersburg
Photo credit: www.johnnyjet.com
now I can say that Ryanair has flights to Russia, and namely to St. Petersburg. But it’s completeley the truth, I mean, if you come to Pulkovo airport and try to book a ticket for a Ryan Air flight from here to Europe, you will fail. Because the Irish carrier landed not in Russia, but in Finland.
Paradox? No. Just the fact that as of March, 4 the company has two flights a week between Lappeenranta and Dusseldorf’s Weeze (Germany). Lappeenranta is located...
March 25th, 2010 | Rest of the World, St Petersburg | Read More
Zenit: Become A Fan
Photo credit: www.fc-zenit.ru, a Zenit player is in blue and white uniform.
Unlike European countries and USA, in Russia national football (soccer) championship, which serves as a main country’s entertainment, starts in early March.
Unlike Moscow, where there are a few very strong teams playing in the highest Premier league, St. Petersburg has the only such collective — FC Zenit. As a single child in a family it is getting all the love and fan support which is being produced by a forth-biggest...
March 23rd, 2010 | St Petersburg | Read More
Terem Crossover: Musical Competition
107 ensembles from 21 countries in the time period between 22nd and 28th of March will be fighting for prizes of The Terem Crossover tournament which is going to be one of the biggest musical events ever held in St. Petersburg.
To put it briefly: it’s a great meeting of instrumental bands of different types from Balkans Strings and Tango Extremo to the State ensemble of violinists of the Republic of Sakha. Over the course of the week the musicians take part in a competition which consists...
March 19th, 2010 | St Petersburg | Read More
Three nights of J. S. Bach in St. Petersburg
On 21st of March all fans of Johann Sebastian Bach may celebrate the birthday of the great German composer by visiting a concert which will be the first one to open a mini-festival. The festival will consist of a few concerts during which Russian musicians and performers from other countries will be playing music created by Bach.The show is to take place at the Peter and Paul Cathedral, Nevsky prospect, 22-24.
On 21st, public will hear cantatas which are performed rarely. A director of stage...
March 18th, 2010 | St Petersburg | Read More
Say “Habari Afrika” in St. Petersburg
There is a shop in Vienna which has managed to employ the former German prime-minister Gerhard Schroeder as a PR-tool, and as I guess free of charge. This shop sells items created by designers from 28 African countries.
What’s a link between this shop, Herr Schroeder and St. Petersburg? Late previous week the big boss from Germany opened an exhibition “Habari Afrika” organized by the shop (its poorly designed web-site is here. The only English-language page is about selling its...
March 14th, 2010 | St Petersburg | Read More
Kings of Ice: Figure Skating Show
Well, yes, the Russians have not succeded much in figure skating in the Olympics in Vancouver, but anyway we stay the home to many world-scale stars in this sport that’s a sort of a show, and in this show that’s a kind of sport.
Mr Plushenko himself, who became a hero of many headlines during the Games, being “awarded” with a platinum medal by his own site, is now a headliner of a show “The Kings of Ice” to be held on March 30 at The Ice Palace.
Plushenko, who...
March 13th, 2010 | St Petersburg | Read More
Ferry to Helsinki: Coming Soon, Sales Already Now
In my post I wrote about a launch of a regular ferry line St. Petersburg-Helsinki and promised further details on fare, schedule and the day of start. So here they are.
First flight will be made on April 20th. The ferry “Princess Maria” will be departing from St. Petersburg at 20.00 on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday arriving at Helsinki at 08.30 next morning. The departure from Helsinki is at 20.00 on Thursday, Saturday and Monday, the arrival at St. Petersburg at 08.00 or 09.00...
March 7th, 2010 | St Petersburg | Read More
Incredible Oriental Sculpture at the Hermitage
Photo credit: www.2photo.ru
Currently, the Hermitage displays an exhibition of a Russian sculptor Dashi Namdakov. This name, Dashi, may sound to you a bit non-Russian, and here I must say that Dashi is a representative of one of the most interesting folks living under one roof with a “title” nation. He’s a buryat, and his folk is regarded to be the close relatives to those Mongolians who managed to conquer the territory of today’s Russia in XIII-XIVth centuries (according...
March 6th, 2010 | Europe | Read More
Joseph Beyrle: Russo-American WWII Soldier
Photo credit: www.rian.ru
It’s an incredible story of a Michigan guy who was sent overseas to fight fascism, was captured, managed to escape and became the only soldier who served in two armies: in the American one and in the Soviet Union’s. In the honour of Joseph Beyrey (1923-2004) the Russian Museum has opened a special exhibition “Jumping Joe. A hero of two nations”.
In 1944, Beyrle, then a 20-year paratrooper, was sent to France to take part in the launching of...
February 22nd, 2010 | St Petersburg | Read More
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