Moscow 2023

Ko.Fe, were you at all nervous that with the war raging, the FSB might take a camera wielding, Canadian passport-holding Russian speaker for a spy?
 
Thank you all for kind words and checking in.

It is only allowed to call it as special military operation. As long as you keep your head low and camera small it is OK.

Late Friday theme. Some in Moscow works late. Some have two, three jobs. And booze is sold at very many places.

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Tiny bar, kind of wide spread franchise for beer store. Paraphrased from bibliotheca, called as beertheca (pivoteka).
Barman's kid is at the right bottom corner. More familiar face is in the opposite.

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CANned beer in this place. One with Georgian (I assume language), one with Ukrainian.
 
Great juxtaposition. Friendship park seems to have many kinds of tanks.
Always fascinated to see birrichki diversity... although I fear the diversity is still just reaching Bulgaria.
 
JeffS7444 said:
Those must be friendship tanks!

If you find yourself in GUM I wonder if the Zenit store would be worth a brief visit:
ZENIT PHOTO | VK
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GUM is adjoined to Red Square. We walked by one evening, but I forgot they had this store.
I haven't been in ZUM for decades, kind of useless store for some time.
While I was kid my mother has to take me to GUM, ZUM and Kids World stores which were on some lengthy trip from home.
I can't say I liked waiting in lines and such. But walking and subway were entertaining.

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At one of the two corners of ZUM facing Red Square. Street sign is Red Square 3.

Temporary skating rink on Red Square.

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Called GUM skating rink on the Red Square.
 
Rob-F said:
I agree: Nice paint job. The name ought to sound more Russian, though. Zambonsky?
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Painting style is done as know in Russia Gzhel Gzhel - Wikipedia

Speaking about local styles and dressing warm. It was around zero C all the time I have been where.
While I subway, I have to take jacket off. But many were dressed as for -15C and in style.

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Woolen boots, nothing else matching them in real winter.

Winter, fur hats, maybe less practical 🙂

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Moscow's subway has free internet, btw.

Parka winter jackets in dark blue or green were very popular in earlier nineties. Called as Alaska.
 
Ko.Fe. said:
GUM is adjoined to Red Square. We walked by one evening, but I forgot they had this store.
I haven't been in ZUM for decades, kind of useless store for some time.
While I was kid my mother has to take me to GUM, ZUM and Kids World stores which were on some lengthy trip from home.
I can't say I liked waiting in lines and such. But walking and subway were entertaining.

View attachment 4817718

At one of the two corners of ZUM facing Red Square. Street sign is Red Square 3.
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Loving these photographs Ko.Fe. - especially the architectural detail in this one.

Thank you for sharing these and glimpses into Russian life.
 
Time flies even faster after return. Another Friday, very end of it.

During my parents time, they say restaurants went to be kind of affordable. For short time, I guess, because I remember while parents were at their early thirties they had guests over. I would go under the table where they sit around and listen. After some consumption, Stalin's name would come....

On my time of late Brezhnev... restaurants were too special. You have to find a way to get in and to be served well.
We preferred drinking at home or just en plein air. And later, Yeltsin short time taken by Putin, in garages and at dachas.

I never liked restaurants. But I spend a lot in them at both continents while been in sales and support for two+ decades.

Good places are hard to find in central part of the city, if you don't know or don't ask right people. Well, any city part... Google reviews are some unrelated writings.

Was Moscow any different? No, if you don't know.

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We went to this pub. Pristine location, the rest went odd. They have wrong labels on taps and "meat" in burgers.
But if you don't have your place, visiting Moscow, it is the place to walk in and talk ...

Make a wide guess...

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It is McDonald's replacement. Calles as "Testy and... Period". Did not went where. But to... name escapes me... KFC, where I would never go anywhere else, but Moscow.
Might be another Friday story...
 
besk said:
Ko.Fe., I notice air conditioners in windows now. That is new from 15 or so years ago.
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Climate has changed. We never had AC where, no need, well, no availability either. ACs become on some demand at central part of Moscow due to cars traffic huge increase and pollution in around 2000. Pollution went off at some time, due to more modern cars replacing old soviet vehicles. But they had smoky summers, due to fires in suburbs, smoke was just like in London's cheap coal smoke time.
And around ten years ago, summers became as hot as in stinky southern Ontario and winters changed to mild ones.

My parents installed one and later on another AC. Mother did not liked it. She kept turning AC off. I spoke with her on Sunday as usual. Next Sunday she was not answering to all of us. It was last heat wave of the season...
Here in GTA, they knew what heat kills most, not cold...

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This is one of the known building in Moscow. Dark history of Stalin's time and soviet glory with memorial plates on main entrance.
You could see how few AC even they have.

en.wikipedia.org

House on the Embankment - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
 
Indeed. Сперва был храм, потом — хлам, а теперь — срам. хотя это был Храм Христа Спаси́теля, но это был тот же архитектор, я думаю.

Love this series @Ko.Fe., but am very sorry to hear about your mother. Her generation was truly formidable.

Marty
 
Freakscene said:
Indeed. Сперва был храм, потом — хлам, а теперь — срам. хотя это был Храм Христа Спаси́теля, но это был тот же архитектор, я думаю.

Love this series @Ko.Fe., but am very sorry to hear about your mother. Her generation was truly formidable.

Marty
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Thank you, Marty.

Here is better view of Cathedral of Christ the Saviour - Wikipedia MKII.

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We went where with my mother and on the bridge in 2016.

From my memory it was build on donations as symbol of victory in 1912 war with Napoleon. Took decades to build.
Just a few decades later commies wanted their temple at this place. They have to spend extra effort to demolish original one.
And red temple plans failed. Instead, they put open swimming pool called as ... Moscow.
My father bumped into my mother where on swimming line. This is how they met for first time.
My mother parents moved to close location to this pool after house in Rzhev city was destroyed. First, they stayed in the shed at Moscow suburb. Mother told me she could see stars and falling snow at night in this shed. Grandfather took some special government job and they gave him shared basement apartment in the building on the street which is close to Canadian embassy.

Back to Moscow swimming pool, I went with parents to swim once or more. To enter the pool, it was only via diving under the partial wall.
In 1999 they put copy of cathedral back in service.
Around same year I was commissioning first Russian multi-tv channel facility NTV+, an hour of driving where from home and it was first time I hear song on the radio where my feel of those times was summarized, including cathedral rebuild.

Aquarium, Ancient Russian Despair song.
" High above the stoned Moscow scaffolds creep into sky
Turks erect Old Slavic waxworks in the twinkling of an eye".
 
I am very sorry to hear about your loss, ko.fe.
I had a similar event when I called my mother and she told me to call her back in a few days-then she passed away a day later [several years ago].
Mothers cannot be replaced.
Take care.
 
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