Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception

I'm not quiet sure, but I suppose that is the only Catholic church in Moscow and that is why it looks really alien to our orthodox culture, but that is a good reason to like it. I've been there once when I was a small kid, and since than I've never had an opportunity to visit it again. However on the 12th day I pulled myself together and went there. And was really fascinated. Like I was a hero of some Home Alone movie. Christmas trees with tinsels everywhere, the snow was falling down and first time in my life I saw the Nativity sets. It was a really great experience! 

Troyka Fair

Troyka creative laboratory made a new technologies Christmas market on Stoleshnikov Pereulok: there is an ice slide that changes its color, kinetic installation made by Hello Computer studio, parcourists from Jump Evolution dressed in Santa Claus' costumes and snowmen singing with 3D mapping. The food is prepared by mobile cafes Gifts of Nature and No Crepe (source: http://www.the-village.ru/cities/moscow/events/8887-yarmarka-troyka-fair).
While taking pictures my fingers turned into icesticks so after my walk I went down to CoffeeShop on Kamergersky Pereulok to warm up and have some Mochachino. If you follow me on Instagram you may have noticed that I prefer black coffee, but sometimes I'm in need of some sweet coffee beverage and hot chocolate and I haven't found anythng better yet than CoffeeShop.

Christmas market on Tverskoy Bulvar

New Year passed long ago, but holidays are still in full swing in Moscow. Tomorrow we are having our orthodox Christmas so Christmas markets are still working and have even more visitors than thay had before holidays.
I've visited almost every market, so now I can say that there have been 3 really worth seen ones. First one is on the Red Square, and here are some pictures from the second one on Tverskoy Bulvar with enormous amount of light, some deers and a lot of entertainment.

New Year Celebration

I wish you a Merry Christmas

Dear readers and guests, here should have been a post about Christmas celebration with tons of beautiful pictures, but the truth is that Russians do not celebrate Christmas, we celebrate New Year with the same Christmas traditions. So it is in one week. However my mum is a Catholic, so usually we have a little Christmas dinner this day. 

But it is not what I was going to tell you. I wanted to wish you a Merry Christmas, I hope that all your dreams will come true and your goals will be achieved. I wish you a good heath and a lot of happiness in life, to find and keep the love of your life, to appreciate your family and friends and never forget in this huge world who you are! MERRY CHRISTMAS! Have a great time!

Christmas market

Never ever in my life I 've seen Moscow so beautifully decorated for Christmas. Wreaths, Christmas trees with lights, ornaments, garlands and ribbons are all over the city. And Christmas market on the Red Square is something totally new here. Despite there are almost nothing worthy to buy, it is still one of the most beautiful places in Moscow now. There are a lot of small wooden houses with different things to buy (ranging from Christmas candles to traditional Russian costumes) and to eat (like Russian blinis), roundabout in the corner, ice statues with heroes of the animated movie Frozen and too many fabulouse dacorations. You can play some traditional Russian games there like jumping over a rope, go ice-skating and take photos with Ded Moroz and Snegurochka (Father Frost - Russian Santa and his grand-daughter). And if you are cold, still winters can be really severe here, warm yourself in the GUM.

Night walk

This post should have appeared before my trip to St Petersburg. In fact, these pictures were taken in a couple of hours before I left. There is nothing specific here, just some night Moscow pictures somewhere near the Bolshaya Dmitrovka and Strastnoy bulvar streets.

Saint Petersburg (Part 2)

St Petersburg is even more beautiful at night. However I suppose this statement can be related to any city. The darkness mixed with the electric light (+ Christmas decorations) certanly has some magic in it: it makes you wilder, your thoughs are freer and more creative and air seems colder and fresher. Can you see this atmosphere on these pictures?

Saint Petersburg (Part 1)

Saint Petersburg is the cultural capital of Russia and often called "Venice of the North". It is "a little bit sad and romantic, this city will never let go if once you fell in love with it." Haze, rain, clouds are the usual weather here, that is why the sunshine is appreciated twice as much as in Moscow. In fact, there are a lot of differences between St Petersburg and Moscow. The architecture is more Imperial in StP while main Moscow buildings reminds you of the USSR time. People in the capital are always rushing somewhere, but in the St Petersburg everyone seems like taking their time and they have nowhere to hurry. They have time to have a meal in the cafe  instead of drinking their take away coffee in the subway, they can easily go to another part of the city just to buy the best pastry in Russia, while we prefer buying some tastless food in the nearest supermarket after a hard day of working.
There are too many beautiful places to see, unfortunately I took pictures only of Nevskiy Prospect (the main street) and the Gulf of Finland as I've been to StP so many times that I had no wish to visit tourist attractions once again. I came there just to meet my friends and spend some time away from Moscow.

Winter fairy tale

Do you have this Christmas feeling? I didn't until yesterday - I entered the shopcentre GUM (pronounce like \ɡʊm\) on the Red Square and found myself in a real Christmas fairy tale. There is no need to describe what I saw, just look at the pictures yourself.
GUM was founded a century ago and now it is full of shops such as Louis Vuitton, Tiffany and Vertu. However if your budget doesn't allow you to shop there, you still must visit it as this place is famous for it's architecture, interior design and incredible decorations renewed every couple of months. And don't forget to see the Soviet Style Restaurant №57 on the third floor (it is really Soviet:) ).