Moscow Life - Andrey's View, 1995

Reset 05/21/97

Matreshka, vodka, Kremlin, banya, bears...

Two most recent changes:
July 11, 2004 - Baikal, the lake of mists
June 26, 2004 - Sun in St. Pete
CHECK THE NEW STORIES!

Complete list of all stories

The words below the title of this page - as well as the image on the left - look and sound so Russian, don't they? However, all these things mostly have absolutely nothing to do with our day-to-day life. (But I'm not saying that I don't drink vodka or have never seen a bear in the woods! And yes, there are plenty of churches all over our country - and photos of them on the pages here.)

Now this my pet online project has entered its 10^th year! Eternity by the Net standards. I still keep addind new stories to this page several times a year - the total count exceeds 50, a neat round number. They are not a mainstream journalism, and in no way repeat or resemble cover stories of major mass media sources. If you are interested in breaking political news and rumors right from Russia, check ITAR-TASS News agency or English edition of Gazeta.ru, leading online newspaper here. These sources quite honestly translate into English what we hear in Russian from our TVs and read in newspapers.

Fortunately, the life is less sensational, violent, or political - most of the time, even after September 11, 2001, the day of Tradegy that still affects our lives no matter where we live. But even amidst a crisis, war or election campaign (the favorite time for the stinking voltures of contemporary journalism) there are smiles in the streets and beauty of sceneries and in the hearts. May professional journalists, both Russian and American, forgive me, but life in any country is much more human than they keep telling us. I understand that they do have a strong motivation - the more sensational they are, the better they get paid. But I do not share their views, I live in Moscow, not off Moscow. Many thousand Web surfers have already honored me by visiting this site - and often writing back. Thanks for being interested in what we, objects of mass media attention, think, see, and feel in reality...
Thank you for coming here! More than a thousand of original photos with my comments are waiting for you.

St. Basil Cathedral, the famous Moscow landmark

There are no political gossips here (nor will there ever be). Look at St. Basil Cathedral (on the left) and The Kremlin (on the right) - there won't be many pictures of the sort below. (By the way, you can click on any photo on this page to zoom in and see more details!) There are other sites on the Net that describe Russia in a more coherent manner.

Here I only share with you events and small pleasures of the life of a Muscovite, the random details that make our life worth living.

I am also trying to do my best in showing you how beautiful, in its own way, Moscow - and Russia - is. And how sometimes strange by your standards. And how fast it changes. You can compare for yourself, the stories here and photos in them cover the period of 9 years spent on the very fast lane... Ten plus million people live in Moscow, and their apartments, habits, jokes may look and sound strange to you. Or not - let us check?

I invite you to stroll Moscow streets (and sometimes, the lanes of other Russian cities) with me and ride the bike in the summer fragrant parks. Life is not limited to Kremlin and government offices that you see in the news. Yes, I may tell you about The White House - but not as the seat of power - rather as a white detail of Moscow cityscape nicely refleced in the river. And still definitely is much more ugly than a modern church you see on the other photo. Moscow is interesting everywhere - not only along beaten tourists paths described in printed city guides. Welcome to Moscow as a Muscovite sees it! With McDonalds junk food places where you do not need to know Russian to read a familiar sign.

I post here a new story every two or three months. Stories of Moscow and Muscovites as I personally see them - like those two in the picture on the right I saw once in the street.. Well... speaking of postings - they are not all that regular. At least, I try to do my best. But please don't blame me too much when I fail to meet the deadline ;-) So far, I managed to add four to seven stories each year since 1995. There are more than half a hundred stories here already - amazing even for me... Hundreds and hundreds of photos for you to see, they often tell much more than my clumsy words :-)

Now, please select the story. The most recent one, of course, is highlighted, and below it the entire archieve is listed.

2004, current
The latest story: Baikal, the lake of mists - July 2004 Sun in St. Pete Katya's batik: nine years later
2003	2002	2001
Memories of cold and snow Kiev, the mother of all Russian cities Summertime fun in the city When winter slowly comes in...	Kisses brought us the spring Welcome, spring sunshine! Away from the downtown Weekends in the countryside	A bit of sun in the bleak winter Between two holidays Fun of May vacations Blessing of June water Sun and fun Moscow, Europe, and back home... Here comes the cold
2000	1999	1998
Summer ahead of time Peaceful summer in Moscow Dacha and countryside Kiev, former Soviet #2 capital Wear and tear Belarus, a time machine From gold to gray Getting ready for 2001	Entering 1999... Leaving snow behind A107 and other roads Speeding ahead	El Nino winter in Moscow Bridge over troubled season Weekend near St. Petersburg Second half of summer Months of uncertainty
1997	1996	1995
Cold of Russian winter Winds of spring May sunshine June bike rides July 4th in Moscow Dacha revisited Season of watermelons	Palm trees in the snow Spring of light Rafting on high flood Batik again Moscow and New England The other capital Shadows of the fall	Cozy art exhibit Dacha is calling! Forests and boats Young journalists Far north from Moscow October Saturday Season of twilight

Right now I am busy with other Web projects that take almost all of my time. This is not an excuse, I know - and promise to keep updating this page no matter what ;-) But still I feel I need to warn you...

Counter added Sept. 07 2000

Andrey Sebrant -
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