Winter is finally upon us here in Mockba. It generally snows just about every day and temperature are in the low minus teens now.
If you'd like to get a sense of what Mockba winter is looking like: Last Saturday a group of us from Nancy's school drove about an hour and a half outside of Mockva to an outdoor party in the snow We first stopped into a B&B and had a traditional breakfast after which we drove a short distance and then loaded ourselves onto 2 horse-drawn sleighs which took us into the forest and arrived a a camp site with 2 pits fires, hot dogs for roasting and a lot of vodka, beer and wine.
Those that were interested took sleigh rides into adjacent farm fields. Some went sleigh riding on a nearby hill. After about 3 hours out in the cold and snow we returned to the B&B and went into a баня (sauna). After getting very sweaty and wacking ourselves with wet birch branches to get your circulation going you had a choice of jumping into a cold pool or outside in a snow bank. I hit the pool twice while Nancy headed for the snow bank.
After the баня experience set sat down to a traditional dinner of borsht, bread, vegetables with meats and cheeses followed by an interesting casserole of beef, potatoes and ionion. After dinner we piled back into our buss and headed back to the City.
If you’re interested go to my site: http://www.andrewmcdonoughphotography.com/ and then click on the bottom file called: “banya_jan_22_2011.pdf” Save it to a convenient folder and then click on it to activate the .pfd file. There will only be 2 faces you recognize but you’ll note that everyone else seemed to be having a great time and you can now get a sense of how much snow has piled up and how cold it was that day.
Доследующегораза,
Борис
Monday, January 23, 2012
Sunday, January 15, 2012
On Snow in Mockva
16 января 2012
Well…it’s finally here – snow – but not like I expected. I had visions of mountains of snow and ice everywhere, kind of like in Dr. Zhivago. These days it snows a little every day as it is right now as I’m looking out the window writing this. At the moment there is about 6 inches of accumulation from the last several days and based on what local people say that’s pretty much the norm; a little snow each day but not in huge amounts.
It is getting steadily colder which is what I expected. The forecast for the next few days calls for temperatures at or a bit below 0 degrees C.
Without the snow Mockva can be a pretty grey looking place. Things lighten up with the snow and the trees look pretty, which is a big improvement on your average linoleum-grey sky.
Snow removal here is different than in the US. The main roads are plowed and swept with large industrial size sweepers mounted on the back of the plow truck. An unknown liquid is sprayed. I’ve heard it called jet fuel and it does have the faint scent of kerosene. Salt is also spread in some places. Local streets don’t get as much attention and it seems like the DPW relies on cars traveling on the snow-covered roads to break it down. Everyone here uses studded tires so it does seem to get the job done although at night when the slush freezes it will get pretty slippery.
What is really amazing is the way snow is plowed in the parking lot of our compound. Everything is done by - hand! Our parking lot is about the size of a (US) football field or maybe even a little bigger. Guys with very wide shovel blades and 2 widely spaced handles push the snow to the side. With the snow now coming almost every day this amounts to a full-time job for these guys. Kind of makes you want to take up a collection and get these guys a snow blower or a John Deere with a plow. I know these exist at our local OBI (Home Depot) but they seem to be an unnecessary luxury by management.
It took the guys about 3 days to clear the snow from the last week and now it’s started again. Glad it’s not me out there…
Доследующегораза,
Борис
It is getting steadily colder which is what I expected. The forecast for the next few days calls for temperatures at or a bit below 0 degrees C.
Without the snow Mockva can be a pretty grey looking place. Things lighten up with the snow and the trees look pretty, which is a big improvement on your average linoleum-grey sky.
Snow removal here is different than in the US. The main roads are plowed and swept with large industrial size sweepers mounted on the back of the plow truck. An unknown liquid is sprayed. I’ve heard it called jet fuel and it does have the faint scent of kerosene. Salt is also spread in some places. Local streets don’t get as much attention and it seems like the DPW relies on cars traveling on the snow-covered roads to break it down. Everyone here uses studded tires so it does seem to get the job done although at night when the slush freezes it will get pretty slippery.
What is really amazing is the way snow is plowed in the parking lot of our compound. Everything is done by - hand! Our parking lot is about the size of a (US) football field or maybe even a little bigger. Guys with very wide shovel blades and 2 widely spaced handles push the snow to the side. With the snow now coming almost every day this amounts to a full-time job for these guys. Kind of makes you want to take up a collection and get these guys a snow blower or a John Deere with a plow. I know these exist at our local OBI (Home Depot) but they seem to be an unnecessary luxury by management.
It took the guys about 3 days to clear the snow from the last week and now it’s started again. Glad it’s not me out there…
Доследующегораза,
Борис
Saturday, January 14, 2012
On Barcelona and Antoni Gaudí
14 января 2012
We are back in Mockva having spent two weeks in the US during the holidays. On our way back to Mockva we stopped in Barcelona for five days and enjoyed this visitor-friendly cosmopolitan city with perfect weather under sunny warm skies. Visitor-friendly is not a phrase that comes to mind in Mockva but it fits well with Barcelona. We stayed in the center of town and thus had easy access to all of Barcelona.
Antoni Gaudí was a well-known architect in Barcelona and is famous for his experimental designs employing curved surfaces vs. straight lines. In one of his designs known as La Pedrera (Casa Milá), just two blocks from where we stayed at the Hotel Majestic, there are no straight lines, only curved and undulating surfaces including a rooftop with artistically inspired vents and chimneys, some reminiscent of ancient warrior figures. Just one and a half blocks in the other direction along the Paseo Gracia is the similarly designed Casa Batlló.
Gaudí also designed the Parc Guell, one of relatively few parks in the City a 25 minute bus-ride from our hotel. The park is sculpted in into a steep hill and offers great sky-line views of Barcelona.
Perhaps Gaudí’s best known and controversial project is the Sagrada Familla, a towering cathedral that still remains unfinished, originally started in 1882. Gaudí spent 40 years on the project often sleeping on the construction site until his death in 1927 due to a traffic accident. Since this death multiple architects and designers have built on or diverted from Gaudí’s original vision. To this day there are two large cranes being used to complete the exterior of the building. The Sagrada Familla, has come to be loved or hated: some consider it a masterpiece of experimental design, while others consider it a mis-mash of styles and an eyesore. It’s spires climb into the sky and can be seen from all corners of the City.
Since Gaudí is one of Barcelona’s great historical and cultural icons I’ve put together a slideshow of shots from all the sites I’ve mentioned above. This all-Gaudí show is one my Web site at: http://www.andrewmcdonoughphotography.com/
Доследующегораза,
Борис
Antoni Gaudí was a well-known architect in Barcelona and is famous for his experimental designs employing curved surfaces vs. straight lines. In one of his designs known as La Pedrera (Casa Milá), just two blocks from where we stayed at the Hotel Majestic, there are no straight lines, only curved and undulating surfaces including a rooftop with artistically inspired vents and chimneys, some reminiscent of ancient warrior figures. Just one and a half blocks in the other direction along the Paseo Gracia is the similarly designed Casa Batlló.
Gaudí also designed the Parc Guell, one of relatively few parks in the City a 25 minute bus-ride from our hotel. The park is sculpted in into a steep hill and offers great sky-line views of Barcelona.
Perhaps Gaudí’s best known and controversial project is the Sagrada Familla, a towering cathedral that still remains unfinished, originally started in 1882. Gaudí spent 40 years on the project often sleeping on the construction site until his death in 1927 due to a traffic accident. Since this death multiple architects and designers have built on or diverted from Gaudí’s original vision. To this day there are two large cranes being used to complete the exterior of the building. The Sagrada Familla, has come to be loved or hated: some consider it a masterpiece of experimental design, while others consider it a mis-mash of styles and an eyesore. It’s spires climb into the sky and can be seen from all corners of the City.
Since Gaudí is one of Barcelona’s great historical and cultural icons I’ve put together a slideshow of shots from all the sites I’ve mentioned above. This all-Gaudí show is one my Web site at: http://www.andrewmcdonoughphotography.com/
Доследующегораза,
Борис
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