Odinary arbiters

Yesterday I stopped by McCafe to have a cup of coffee and suddenly found myself surrounded by curious individuals. The trio on my left (in the photo) was discussing a scenario for the movie they were intending to make. The discourse was hot, and once in a while all three participants were shouting at each other, though next moment calmed them down. The small group on my right was talking about the dance and was detailing particular steps of it.
It's always absolutely fascinating to be a bystander of such conversations. Who knows, may be I witnessed the initiation of a new masterpiece?..

St. Basil's Cathedral

Today I present you a 'postcard' photograph. St. Basil's cathedral was built in 1550s, and is considered one of the most beautiful buildings in the world till now. St. Basil's is also one of the main tourist attracions in Moscow, and here you can read more about it.

Black Saturday

In USSR there was a 'custom' to work for free few days a year. As a rule, these non-paid's were Saturdays before most important Soviet holidays, such as Revolution Day. People nicknamed them 'Black Saturdays'.
Nowadays government doesn't make individuals work on a 'volunteer basis' but once in a while we come to our offices on weekends. This occurs when public holiday happens to be on Thursday or Tuesday. In that case a business day between weekend and holiday is beeing 'transfered' to Saturday or Sunday, so that people get 3 (or more) free days in a row. For some reason we keep calling them Black Saturdays (or Sundays).

Today is one of the case because May, 1st is a public holiday in Russia. I'm at work right now but you enjoy your weekend!

Update: this tree in the picture is some kind of maple or ash, I guess.

Sunny imitation

For those of you who're suffering without sunshine, I present this little sun AKA dandelion as a temporary replacement. And, by the way, observing my version of sun will not harm your eyes, like the real one, so enjoy its light!

This is the first dandelion I met this year.

Out of office

After a fortnight of cold, the weather again pleases Moscow with warmth and sunshine. It is so wonderful outdoors that I couldn't resist a temptation to have a little walk during my lunchtime. I walked relatively traffic-less streets in the neighbourhood and enjoyed the celebration to Life, which can be seen in the spring only.

In the picture: one of the streets I walked today, in the background you can see Ostankino TV tower, which is observable from almost every spot in the north part of the city.

Tranquillity in pink

Another quiet evening for busy city. However, I guess it wouldn't be so quite but for tremendous traffic jam. But when you're stuck among thousand cars, you're better to stay calm because otherwise you're at risk of running absolutely mad. So try to find something pleasant in the situation and enjoy beautiful colours, for example :)

Some of you asked me about coping with Boris Yeltsin's death. Well, de mortuis aut bene aut male, so I choose to keep silence, if you don't mind.

Back in USSR

Remember, I posted a photo of Moscow University last week? Now compare that to Triumph Palace presented in this picture. Same Empire style, isn't it? Well, you might be suprised to find out that Triumph Palace was built in last few years (I believe, some construction works are still going on), so it's a 'brend new' one. What made architects imitate Stalin's Era, I don't have a slightest clue. May be, some kind of nostalgia for Soviet Union?

Rainy day

It was raining and snowing in the morning - definitely the worst day ever for going out! But there was work waiting for me in the office, so I had to get myself into that cold,wet and windy air to make my way across the city.
Anyway, I hope none of you has a Case of Monday's today. Good luck and have a nice day!