dosvedanya for now

and finally
Almost an entire month in Russia, and we have seen glimpses of blue sky for only a matter of minutes, perhaps two or three times. This is one of them. Gray skies day after day after day after day after day. Light snow or fine misty rain much of the time. Cold and damp when we first arrived, cool and damp now. Always gray. Yesterday I looked up from my desk in the late afternoon, and caught sight of some colour in the sky as the sun was setting through a slight gap in the clouds. Thought I’d capture the moment, and leave it with you until my next chance to post - hope the sun is shining in Portugal. As I write these words, the sun has broken through with a blinding brightness - I watched for a few moments, until the clouds covered it over again...




#5
This one’s for you, Heidi. We didn’t see any pugs in France, but this is sighting #5 in Russia (#6 if you count Princess Golitzyna’s). One or two have sported cute little snowsuits. And one was incredibly cute as the rolly-polly-est pug I think I have ever seen! But this is the first one that I have photographed, thanks to a strong zoom from the distant haven of our hotel room.




enigma
This one may be more difficult. We didn’t find out who this represented, but just appreciated its charm as one of the many great sculptures in this cemetery, created over the years by a number of celebrated Russian sculptors.





Hukuta
We found this grave (among those of other famous personages) in the Cemetery of Novodevichy. If you know your Russian alphabet and/or your historical dates, you may be able to figure out who is buried here.








war and peace
Back to Moscow. Our last Russian venture before our departure on Friday morning: the Novodevichy Convent. Founded in 1524 by Grand Prince Vasily III to commemorate the re-capture of Smolensk, it is actually a fortress-convent, and has played a pivotal role in several wars through the centuries. Political, military and religious entanglement seems to be a deeply-embedded feature of the Russian spiritual experience. We walked through the courtyards, visited the exhibits and the gift shop, entered briefly into the one church that appeared to be in operation, and left feeling more than ever our utter lack of connection with, or comprehension of, Russian Orthodox religion.