Moscow is... Places to visit. Part 1. TO EAT and DRINK. 'Chokoladnitsa'.

Шоколадница or 'Chocoladnitsa' is a chain of coffee shops, which in Russian are called 'кофейня'. It may be found all over Moscow in tiny lanes or crowded avenues like Tverskaya street, you may check the address here, but usually there is no need, as it happens usually like this: you walk on foot in the center, feel 'ready' for a cup of coffee and..usually you see it)

The design is very nice,  recently, by the way, one of coffee shops won the prize for the best DESIGN of a coffee shops. And according to the hit-list, it is the best coffee-shop in 2011.

Let's visit one of the кофейня and choose a drink and dessert. MUST-TRY in Russia is coffee glace (кофе гляссе).Sounds French, but indeed it exists only in Russia. Usually is it a big cup of hot black coffee with few spoons of ice-cream upon it. While the ice-cream is melting, coffee becomes milky, ice-cream not so cold, and you drink coffee through this ice-cream foam. Very delicious! it used to be my favourite dessert everywhere in Moscow. In 'Chocoladnitsa' you may try a cup for 149 rubles (180 ml, around 37 hkd) or 179 rubles (270 ml, 45 hkd).

Traditional cappuccino and americano is also found here, you may check the prices in the coffee menu . Among latte the candy boys and candy girls are advised to choose Banana-Caramel Latte, which is 189 rubles for 160 ml (less then 50 hkd), 199 rubles for 250 ml (50 hkd).

Chocoladnitsa exists in Moscow for a long time. I remember well when at the age of 12 first time went there with my mum, who remembered classic choco-panckes exactly there. Now you still may try this dessert.

A portion of pancakes is around 50 hkd, traditional chocolate pancakes look like this

Besides, now you may found renewed lunch menu there, so enjoy not only sweets and desserts, but something else. It will cost you around 100 hkd.

Приятного аппетита! 

22 June

The diary of a traveller, entry 17. Krasnoyarsk, Taiga, Novosibirsk

17. November

Krasnoyarsk. 3.30am. Just helped B. carry his 42” TV and numerous other presents up the stairs at Krasnoyarsk station in my Birkenstocks. Sorry to see them go as they were both very nice people. They’ve been replaced by two guys and platinum blonde girl. She’s pretty, in a money and make-up sense. She has a half length fur jacket. I can’t work out which animal it used to belong to but it still has it’s paws attached to it which is nice.

30 minute stop at Taiga. Got talking with one of the waitresses from the restaurant wagon on the platform whilst having a cigarette. She promptly led me off the shops in the station where I bought a snickers and a Pepsi. I don’t know why: I don’t like Pepsi.

2 hours away from my stop. Went back to the restaurant car to get a beer and read for a bit. All the waitresses are very nice and chatty. Just wish I could speak better Russian. But this is definitely the best way to be practicing. Hats of to Ira/Dima basically! Although I think they’d be livid if they were here at how little I remember.

Horizontal snow coming thick and fast now! That’s what I’ve got to look forward to in 30 mins. Am I really going to walk to my new flat from the station? I didn’t. I got the bus. Sensible move.

Am at homestay #5 now in central Novosibirsk. Home of Olga, husband and baby Annie. Annie is a delightful big old smilely 11 month year old who doesn’t cry in my presence. Flat is nice with modern, if sparse, décor in a classic old Soviet-style apartment block. Novosibirsk is Russia’s third largest city so doubt it will be as easy to stroll round as it was in Irkutsk. Going to brave the weather and have a little explore now. 

Russian with a bite

Found in the magazine SNOB.- Сноб.

Макс Такер / 08.06.11    13:37

Остренькое по-русски - Russian With a Bite

There’s a part of Russian culture that I haven’t yet been able to absorb and mimic.  The way in which Russians communicate with each other still surprises me to this day.  I’m still unable to predict and prepare adequate responses to phrases Russians throw around relentlessly. 

For example, I was in a store that sold sandwiches and baked goods.  The woman in front of me asked the salesperson, roughly translating into English, “Your sandwiches with meat…are they gone?”  Now in my American mind, there are two possible answers.  Yes and no.  But the salesperson came up with a third, unexpected answer.  “Who told you that?”  I was completely flustered. 

Not too long ago, I was in a cramped supermarket with my wife.  We needed to get by a woman who was blocked the aisle.  My wife asked her to move in the most polite way possible, roughly translating as “Can you please be so kind as to let us pass.”  Again, in my American mind there are two responses.  One is to move and the other is to not move.  But this woman actually had a third response.  “I’m not in your way.”  If I were alone, I would have stood there for several minutes trying to figure out what to do next.  But my wife,  a pushy Russian when she needs to be, moved ahead with our cart and politely ran over the woman’s feet.

I was in a pharmacy.  The person in front of me put his money down in the cash tray after ordering something (another interesting note:  in the U.S. it’s rude to put the money on the counter.  You hand it directly to the cashier.  In Russia it’s rude to hand the money directly to the cashier.  You put it down in the cash tray.  Strange, but not blog worthy).  He got his change and – as it sometimes happens – started to walk away, forgetting the little bag of medicine.  The pharmacist had to stop the guy from walking away without the purchase.  In America, you’d probably here some variation of the following phrase:  “Sir!  You forgot your medicine.”  But, in this case, I heard a magical phrase: “Hey!  Who’s going to take the treatment?  Me?!”

Not too long ago, I overheard a conversation between two people:  a chef and the chef’s assistant. 

“Masha, is the cheese far?” 

Masha: “No.”

Chef: “Then why isn’t it here?”

Masha: “I didn’t know you needed it”

Chef:  “I need it.”

Masha: “Should I bring it?”

Chef: “Yes”

Why she didn’t simply say, “Masha, please bring me the cheese” is beyond me.

And this got me thinking.  Why create such difficult, indirect, snarky responses?  There has to be a cultural reason behind this.

Perhaps it’s rooted in the language.  Russian language is complex and allows for many interpretations that often hide messages.  Try reading Bulgakov, Dostoevsky, Tolstoi, and Pushkin, and you’ll see what I mean.  There is even a Russian proverb – brevity is the sister of talent – meaning that it takes skill and talent to be succinct in Russia.  Since brevity is also not a trait found in the Russian language perhaps brief conversations are just as rare.  But I want to dig deeper.

What is really going on here is language is being used as a stealth weapon.  While the person says one thing many hidden messages are being sent as well.  The receiver might not physically hear the stealth messages, but he surely picks up the nonverbal bombs. 

So, what’s the point to of throwing non-verbal bombs, then?  There is a prevalent notion in Russian society that in order for me to prove that I’m better I must make you worse.  The proverb “what is bad for my neighbor is good for me” comes to mind.  And this is exactly what people do when they create conversations like this.  They aren’t interested in answering the question or finding a solution.  They’re one big walking sign screaming “[I think] I’m better than you.” 

And now I’m back to a familiar theme.  This is another way how Russians try to assert superiority to prove they are above you, better than you.  After all, if you’re better than the rest, it’s simply another path to privileges.

article in Russian

Memory Watch 2011

Today is the 22 of June. Why this day is important for Russians? not because it is one more day-off with no routs!

This day, 22 of June 1941 was the beginning of Great Patriotic War for the Soviet Union. The largest, hardest and memorable war in our history. Still sometimes it seems that whole Russian history is history of wars!...

And now we have got one more new, but already important and sincere tradition - the Memory Watch - Вахта памяти.

The idea of this activity is that the participants (usually the youth) meet at night and from different parts of Moscow (or other cities. Me myself, I participated once, it was in Moscow) different groups walk (on foot, at night) towards the center of Moscow, to Alexander's garden near the Kremlin, where is the Tomb of the Unknown soldier and the Eternal Flame.
Usually by 3 o'clock you are there. You get a flower (usually carnation) and a candle. Then at 4 o'clock - exactly when the War started - you silently walk to the Tomb to put the flowers there. Such a sincere and strong ceremony

Moscow is... Places to visit. Part 3. Entertainment

What you can visit in Moscow in the coming two months? Exhibitions, museums, events. Of course, no doubt that you SHOULD visit the museums, that Moscow is famous for, that is the Tretyakov Art Gallery of Pushkin Fine Arts museum, or Kremlin.

Here I will tell you about the new events, also worth visiting but less known especially abroad.

1—20 June 2011- Exhibition of photo by Segery Prokudin-Gorsky 


He is famous for that he was the inventor of colour photo in Russia, one of the first in the world. The emperor sent him to make a collection of view of Russian Empire of the beginning of the 20 century. This is an exhibition of category 'MUST SEE' 

Where: 
Москва, Дизайн-завод FLACON, Адрес: ул. Б. Новодмитровская, д. 36,
тел.: +7 (495) 790-7901, email: info@flacon.su


June - July 2011 - Open Air photo exhibition 'The world through eyes of Russians' 


Where: Tverskoy boulevards, the center of Moscow, metro Pushkinskaya

8 июня—15 июля 2011 года - Nikolay Kulebiakin. Platinotherapy. 

The exhibition of a master of 'nature-morte' 

Where: 

Россия, Москва, Галерея «Меглинская»,
Часы работы: 12.00-20.00, ежедневно, кроме понедельника
Адрес: Россия, Москва, 4-й Сыромятнический переулок, дом 1, стр.6,
Проезд: м. Курская; Центр Современного Искусства ВИНЗАВОД

Russian photo community 500px

Respect to Russian photographers 
experience of creating photo community 500px to show the potential of Russian photographers 

some examples 

 This is for you! 

Moscow, places to visit - Part 2. To WALK. Kamergersky pereulok

Summer in the city! Besides it's time to think of the vacation, and perhaps you have already chosen Moscow or some other cities as a place to travel. Recently we gave you an example of some nice restaurants, and we will go on sharing this interesting info with you. For example, where to drink coffee and eat delicious cakes.

But today I'd like to tell you about one of my favourite places to walk in Moscow.  Камергерский переулок - Kamergersky lane, see it on the map. 

Kamergersky lane is a lane that leads from Bolshaya Dmitrovka to Tverskaya street, 2 more minutes - and you are near the Red Square. It is an old pedestrian lane closed for the traffic. Here are many beautiful old-style building of high cultural significance.  Here lived such famous people as Leo Tolstoy (writer), Edward Bagritsky (poet), Mikhail Sholokhov (writer), Lubov Orlova (actress), A.Tropinin (artist), Sergio Prokofiev (composer) and many others. 

Now the lane is also famous for that here is located one of the most known theaters in Moscow - МХАТ (Moscow Art Theatre).  It is know not only because of good talented actors, famous actor's school, but also for that the plays of Anton Chekhov were staged there.  


Besides, if you have read 'Doctor Zhivago' by Boris Pasternak, you of course remember the poem 'A candle burned upon the table, A candle burned...'  SO according to the plot of the novel, Yura Zhivago wrote it when he was passing the Kamergersky lane and saw a candle in the window frozen by winter frost, there behind the window Lara and Pasha were talking. 

As for the present-day lane, it's a great place to relax, of course. To walk, to visit some shops, among which is a large book-shop. Then you may relax in one of the cafes there. Pasticceria Pinocchio (в переводе "Кондитерская Пиноккио") is a cafe of  Italian pastry,  bakery  "Le Pain Quotidien" ("Лё Пэн Котидьян"), the restaurant 'Ancient China' (it would be funny to meet chinese culture in Moscow, if you have come from Hong Kong to meet Russian culture!!)) and many other cafe. I would suggest you to visit Moscow's traditional coffee-shops, that in Russian we call 'кофейня' - 'Chocoladnitsa' ("Шоколадница").
But I'd love to focus on it in our next post...


Enjoy your walk! 

Via Bigpicture: Travel in Russia. Altai

Altai seems to be wild and greatly exciting place to visit and to go hiking. 
Altai area or in Russian - Krai (Алта́йский край) is a federal subject of Russia in the Siberian Federal District. It borders with, clockwise from the south, Kazakhstan, Novosibirsk and Kemerovo Oblasts, and the Altai Republic. The krai's administrative center is the city of Barnaul.
       The Altai Mountains (阿尔泰山脉) are a mountain range in central Asia, where Russia, China, Mongolia and Kazakhstan come together, and where the rivers Irtysh and Ob have their sources. The Altai Mountains are known as the original locus of the speakers of Turkic as well as other members of the proposed Altaic language group. The name, in Turkic Alytau or Altai, means Al (gold), tau (mount); in Mongolian Алтайн нуруу Altain nuruu, the "Mountains of Gold". The proposed Altaic language family takes its name from the mountain range.

Here is a photo report of an interesting trip to one of the Altai villages, Srostki which lies neat the mountain Piket. This place is also famous for that the great Russian and Soviet writer and actor Vasiliy Shukshin was born. 

full version of the trip is to be found here 

The diary of a traveller, entry 16. Going to Novosibirsk

16 November

Back on the train again! 30 solid gold hours to Novosibirsk. Done very well with my wagon so far! Have met my two companions and we’ve had a good old chat in Russian. Bolot and Katia – husband and wife team. She is European Russian and he is native Kyrgyzstan. Very chatty. All I can say is that Russians are a real mixed bag. But I like these guys! Bolot’s on his way back home to visit his Mum in Kyrgyzstan who he hasn’t seen for 7 years. He’s gonna spend 30 days there and has filled all spare space in the wagon with gifts for her.

God I feel tired now from speaking Russian. I’ve exhausted the limits of my vocabulary I few times over. This train is too warm.


photos are taken from Richard's archive 

The diary of a traveller, entry 15. Part 3 Irkutsk

15. November

Pretty good night’s sleep. Then a breakfast of freshly microwaved pancakes smothered in jam and, I think, yogurt.  After putting the packet in the microwave, pressing a button, waiting 40 seconds and then placing the plate on the table T. sat next to me, head in hands apparently in a state of utter exhaustion.  Shortly after this she cast me a glance as if she had just cooked a feast of epic proportions for me and that, frankly, спасибо wasn’t a sufficient enough response on my part. I think this family might be a little bit odd. They have caged birds in the kitchen, oil paintings of themselves in the living room where the television ought to be, and a piano which is “not for playing” I’m told. Ok.

Not an wholly successful day today truth be told. Spent the majority of the daylight walking through the city looking for a museum to the Decembrists which I’m convinced doesn’t exist whatever the guide book says. After that I gave up and headed to the art gallery instead which was closed despite Tuesday being their reported day-off and today being Wednesday. Then I had to leg it to the other side of town to get my visa registered before it was too late (even though I’m leaving the city tomorrow). The girl at the travel agents took pity on me as I was clearly looking a wee bit flustered and processed it for me in about an hour. Sputnik travel gets a big old tick from me. Decided to go and sit in the pub for a bit and read after that. 

Moscow is... Places to visit. Part 1. TO EAT, 'Drova'

Another place to visit and to eat - the restaurant 'Drova' (means 'wood'). As cafe 'Mu-mu' it seems to be a moderate variant to pay, to eat at and to try the Russian cuisine.  Let's visit it!


The cafe  organized in the same way as 'Mu-mu' which seems to be comfortable enough. It is like a buffet, but not self-serviced, but 'the waiter's-service'.


Business lunch now is 200 rub, which is around 50 hkd, including soup, salad and main dish with potato, rice or steamed vegetables. All comes with tea.












Nice thing to try there - the menu of pancakes and vareniki. Vareniki is a type of 'dumpling', but with potato or berries with cottage cheese. Those who have seen 'Christmas Eve', the film made by the story of Nikholai Gogol, may remember the moment when the wizard in the village was eating vareniki just with his eyes (he made the vareniki jump first into sour cream and then to his mouth).

Hot pancakes with salmon - 230 rubles (56 hkd),
hot pancakes with red caviar - 280 rub (around 70 hkd),
vareniki with cherry - 200 rub (50 hkd),
vareniki with potato and mushrooms - 200 rub (50 hkd),

dumplings with salmon - 250 rub (around 60 hkd),
dumplings with 3 types of meat - 250 rub (around 60 hkd).

The bar menu is also full of variety, besides in Russia in the cafe and restaurants you may order some drinks as wine, alcoholic cocktails and even wiski.

But please better try some Russian national and popular drinks as cranberry mors (vitamin juice) or kvas.

Enjoy your meal!
Приятного аппетита! 

Patchwork Olympic games in Sochi 2014

There was an interesting post about the style for the Olympic games in Sochi 2014, Russia. The style seems to be beautiful and attractive, have a look!

the photos and the info are taken from drugoi