Happy New Year!

This is my last post this year, and I use the opportunity to wish you all the best in upcoming one. Thank you for being with me all these months, for all good words you had for me and for your endless support.
Now let us put aside our worries and meet 2009 with light hearts and among the dearest people (and don't forget to make a wish as the clock strike midnight :) )!

Welcome to New Year!

I promised to tell you about Russion traditions of celebrating seasonal holidays. To start with, a little bit of history.
Before revolution of 1917 Russians celebrated Christmas, like the rest of Christians, on December 25th. After revolution any religion-related functions were banned;but people longed for holidays, and in mid-1930s the tradition of decorating fir-tree was re-introduced to Soviet people but now it applied to New Year celebration. Since then New Year tree is a regular guest in Russian houses.
Another required attribute of that holiday is (rather are) Grandy the Frost and his granddaughter Snow Maiden (in Russian, Ded Moroz and Snegurochka). Those persons come to children on a New Year Eve and gift them with numerous presents. There is also a tradition to leave boots by the decorated fir-tree for the night so that in the morning one could find gifts in one's boot.

New Year is extremely popular is Russia. Most cultural organizations prepare festive shows for children, friends and families meet together and exchange gifts.

As for Christmas, after switching to Grigorian style this holiday was shifted to January, 7th. It was nearly forgotten during 70 years of Soviet Union and, though restored lately, is neglected by many even now. Some people do celebrate Christams, too, aome of them attend public worships and give presents to each other, but still it's a kind of secondary holiday of the festive season.

Winter sky

Horses in the snow

Another lonely wintry fontain in Alexandrovsky Garden...

Winter in Alexandrovsky garden

What I like about winter parks is their perfect tranquility. As a rule, fellow-walkers are scarce, and empty fontains add to sense of solitude...

Snowed

Here is winter - it's time to take snowed photographs!

Winged seed

We finally got some snow, and weather in Moscow is very Christmas-like now. So I obviously couldn't miss such a chance to get wintry photos!

This one presents a seed of maple-tree, children like to make 'planes' with a couple of such winged things.

Merry Christmas

To those who celebrate Christmas Eve tonight I wish Merry Christmas and all the happiness it can possibly provide! May it bring health and peace to you and your families!

Princess the Frog

There is a Russian fairytale about a frog who turned to a princess. That's a long story of choosing wives by three brothers, sons of a tsar, in rather unusual way: by their farther's will each one had to shoot an arrow from his bow and marry a girl from the home where his arrow 'landed'. Youngest brother's one fell into marsh and was caught by a frog, he had to marry the reptile and was much laughed at, but afterwards the frog turned out the best cooker, skilled handywoman and wisest consultor out of all brothers' wives, for she was a beautiful princess under some evel spell. Well, and so on...

This is a sculpture representing this character in fontain of Manege square.

The shortest day of year

Winter fontains

These is what used to be a fontain in the summertime. Did you notice that dry fontains, especially in winter, have something peculiar in their appearence? It's like forgotten teddy-bear out in the rain...

This is the same fontain in Alexandrovsky Garden that I showed earlier. Those sculpures are supposed to represent scene from fairytails.

Empty walk

On a cold wintry day a sight-seeing area in front of Manege is empty. There is noone to walk along the balconet or to have a rest on a bench. Rare tourists hurry to hide themselves in museums and gift shops. Kremlin and Alexandrovsky Garden seem abandoned, and it will be so till the spring come.

Stairway to heaven

After several weeks of endless greyness we suddenly got a sunny day. It's chilly (about -6C) but no snow yet. I went for a walk on a lunch break and took this photo from the underpass at Manege Square.

Will it do for my contribution to 'Skywatch Friday'? :)

Dome clock: view from inside

That's how dome clock I posted yesterday looks from inside. This dome is located above the central hall of the mall (the one I showed earlier, with fontain and cafe).
You should be able to recognise continents, shouldn't you?

Dome clock

This is the main dome of Manege square. It represents a semi-globe and is supposed to work as clock showing time in every zone. There is map with major cities specified, and Moscow is marked with a model of Kremlin (see photo, left edge of the semi-sphere). The sculpure on the top is St.George (otherwise George the Victorious) who is considered as Moscow patron.

Fontain in the mall: close-up

Here is a closer view of the same fontain as I posted yesterday.

These days are chilly (about -4C) but snowless and grey. It's definitely nice to stay indoors and have all kinds of pleasant things.

Fontain and elevators

Continuing a series of underground mall photos...

If you step up the grand stairs (which I posted earlier) you'll be able to look at the top of the central fontain (see the photo). And if you use one of these elevators, you'll get a gorgeous view at the central hall on your way up or down.

Remember the picture I posted on the last theme day? Those glassy semi-spheres on the surface? Well, here is what they look like from the mall downstairs.

Grand stairs

I'm really fond of stairs, especially of such a grand ones! This is the same mall and the same hall as I presented yesterday (and day before yesterday). This staircase reminds me of theatre or XVIII-th century mension, I can almost see women wearing gorgeous gowns and gallant gentlemen accompaning them...

That's the same mall I showed you yesterday, the central hall. The hall located on the bottom level (out of 3 total), there are grand stairs to the next level, a fontain in the center and glass-boothed elevators (I turned my back to elevators while taking this picture). There is also a coffee-shop in front of the staircase, and if you sit close to the fontain it would spatter you with water dust.

As for festivals you asked about, Christmas is celebrated in Russia but not as widely as New Year. We do exchange gifts on one or both of these occasions, though for most people New Year is the 'main' holiday.

P.S. Another version on my extension site.

Waiting for New Year

By 1st of December all public places in Russia have to be decorated for Holidays Season (you must be aware already that Russian celebrate New Year rather than Christmas). So today I went for a photo-session to that underground mall I told you about some time ago and took some pictures to show you the way it's decorated. I liked the atmosphere over there, you know. It's not as noisy and crowdy yet as it wil be in by the end of December, but people obviously enjoy spending time in comfortable hospitality of the mall.

After a few weeks of abnormal warmth and rains the weather turned more winter-like: temperature is slightly below 0C, dry snow flakes sometimes find their way to the ground and grass get frosted in the morning.

One more photo from the top. This is the north edge of Kremlin, with Borovitskaya tower and Borovitsky bridge.

Historical Museum

Do you know Karlsson-on-the-Roof? This character and the book are extremely popular in Russia. There are also two cartoons bases on the book which are loved by all the children.

Well, it was just a short introduction to today's photo: as I saw this attic window, my first thought was about Karlsson-on-the-Roof - don't you think it looks amazingly fitting for him? :)

Today is the birthday of my beloved husband. On this occasion I chose that out-of-season photograph to express my best wishes to him.

Darling, may sun shines through your days filling them with endless light and joy! And let your life sparkle with happy events of every rate like fontain sprays on a bright sunny day!

You didn't think I could leave you without Kremlin panoramic view, did you? Well, here is it: a sight of Kremlin from the top of my business center. One more interesting thing about this view: you can see buildings within Kremlin wall that are unreachable for one's eyes from the ground level.

Working on the top

I went upstairs to look at the city from the top of my business center. I saw those people working on the roof of the nearby building and couldn't help taking their picture! They must be able to see a lot around: Kremlin and other famous constructions are so close, and you can see them all at once! What a view it must be!

Manege Square. View from Alexandrovsky Garden

If on a nice sunny day you look south-est from the top of Manege Square, you'll see something similar to this picture: Red Square ahead with Historical Museum on your left, Kremlin on your right and St.Basil's on the background.

Theme day: Circles/Spheres

Today's theme is circels and spheres, and I chose this photo for illustration. This is Manege sguare, there is an underground mall beneath and those glass semispheres you see in the picture are actually windows in the 'roof' of that mall. In the summertime those domes (all but one) are bathed by fontains, and there is a central dome representing semi-globe.

Don't forget to check out other cities! Click here to view thumbnails for all participants