8 May 2016. Our Great Russian Motherland: Ivan the Great Belltower in the Moscow Kremlin (Federal City of Moscow. Central Federal District)

______________________________

The Ivan the Great Belltower (Колокольня Ивана Великого) is the tallest tower in the Moscow Kremlin, with a height of 81 metres (266 ft). Grand Prince Ivan III Vasilyevich (“The Great”) of Moscow and all Rus built it in 1508 for the cathedrals in Cathedral Square, as they didn’t have their own belltowers. Like so many other buildings in the Kremlin, an Italian architect designed it. Until the building of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in 1883, it was the tallest building in Moscow; it was forbidden to put up any building taller than the Belltower. Napoleon attempted to blow the tower up as part of his retreat from Moscow, but it only suffered minor structural damage. Inside the tower, a 329-step spiral staircase leads to the highest observation deck. It has a choir of 22 bells (18 small, 4 large).

BMD

9 February 2015. It’s An Old School Russian Winter

“Winter SaniDay-2015” festival sledge slide in Mitino Park in Moscow (Mitino Raion. Northwestern Administrative Okrug. Federal City of Moscow. Central Federal District) RF, in February 2015.

******

Troika competing in the first round of the Moscow Winter Russian Championship in Moscow (Federal City of Moscow. Central Federal District) RF.

******

Rehabilitative and educational programme “On the Way with the Huskies” in Sokolniki Park in Moscow (Sokolniki Raion. Eastern Administrative Okrug. Federal City of Moscow. Central Federal District) RF.

******

Dogs at the starting line of the “In the Land of the Sampo” in Petrozavodsk (Republic of Kareliya. Northwestern Federal District) RF, on 24 January 2015.

******

A couple looks at images from Siberian photographers on an ice wall, during an exhibition part of the “Magic Ice of Siberia” International Competition of Snow Sculpture along the banks of the Yenisei River in Krasnoyarsk (Krasnoyarsk Krai. Siberian Federal District) RF, in January 2015. The ice sculpting competition, which was in its third year, saw teams from Russia and China competing against each other.

******

A man fishes through a hole in the ice on frozen Abakan Bay of the Yenisei River in Krasnoyarsk (Krasnoyarsk Krai. Siberian Federal District) RF.

******

Ded Moroz (Grandpa Frost) at the Semenkovo Architecture and Ethnography Museum (Vologda Oblast. Northwestern Federal District RF).

******

A child stands next to lit polar bear figures in Tverskoi Boulevard in central Moscow (Tverskoi Raion. Central Administrative Okrug. Federal City of Moscow. Central Federal District) RF.

******

A hardcore hockey fan at a KHL regular season match between KhK SKA St Petersburg and HK Slovan Bratislava in St Petersburg (Federal City of St Petersburg. Northwestern Federal District) RF.

******

Children on the Anichkov Bridge after a snowfall in St Petersburg (Federal City of St Petersburg. Northwestern Federal District) RF.

******

A young “walrus” prepares for a winter swim in Veliki Novgorod (Novgorod Oblast. Northwestern Federal District) RF.

******

Elderly woman on a bench watches a religious procession in Stavropol (Stavropol Krai. North Caucasian Federal District) RF.

******

A man rides a bicycle at a city park in Stavropol (Stavropol Krai. North Caucasian Federal District) RF, temperature -8 degrees (17.6 degrees Fahrenheit).

******

A scientist stands on the edge of a newly formed crater on the Yamal Peninsula in northern Siberia (Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. Tyumen Oblast. Ural Federal District RF). A group of scientists went on an expedition initiated by the Russian Centre of Arctic Exploration to research the crater after pilots captured it on video in July 2014, which attracted the public’s attention. Participants descended about 16 metres (52.4 feet) to reach the frozen surface of the base of the crater, which was a lake at least 10 metres (32.8 feet) deep. Experts, including geologists and historians, haven’t yet decided about the funnel’s origin.

______________________________

Time to pack up your woollies and head on down to Russia… Sandals in the Caribbean isn’t for you. You’d rather hang with the frozen chosen in Yakutsk… different strokes for different folks…

BMD

30 January 2015. EVERYBODY Loves Them Firemen…

******

______________________________

In Russia, the fire guys are a lot like their American cousins. After all, they face the same dangers and the same situations, without exception. Some years ago, I posted about a hero-fireman in Moscow who died in the course of his duties. He was a colonel, with no need of being out on the line. However, he went out with the bros, because that’s the sort of guy he was. He died because the floor collapsed from under him (Patriarch Kirill served Pannikhida for him). That’s why NOBODY dislikes firemen. They put their lives on the line every day and they hurt no one… indeed, their job is to save lives, not take them. If I had to choose between a lawyer, a politician, a salesman, a media pundit, or a fireman as the sort that society needs, I’d pick the fireman and shitcan the rest. I do daresay that I wouldn’t be alone…

BMD

30 January 2015. It’s Looking a Lot Like Winter, Everywhere You Go…

Ice-skating rink near the GUM on Red Square in Moscow (Federal City of Moscow. Central Federal District) RF

******

Winter storm surge in Scotland… whew… I’d not want to be in the middle of that!

******

St Basil Cathedral on Red Square in Moscow.

______________________________

It’s winter, whether you’re in Russia or in Scotland or in the Northeastern USA. Frankly, we haven’t had an Old School Northeast Winter the last few years, Global Warming is no joke… we haven’t had a real sockdolager snowstorm here in the Capital District. Of course, it’s February soon, the last full month of the winter, but it’s often the most brutal, at least as far as temperatures go. We had a big snowstorm in late November 2014 here, but nothing big since. Shall we dodge the bullet? We’ll have to see…

BMD