Good photos are piling up faster than I can sort them out and incorporate into my pages. Thus this gallery, which is a hybrid between a travelogue, a preview of things to come, an archive, and a waste basket.  Pages are in counter-chronological order.  


Winter 2007- Spring 2008My dacha ~ Summer 2007 Part 2 ~ 2007, mostly Staritsa, horses, and trips between St. Petersburg & Staritsa ~ Spring & Summer 06 ~ Winter '06 ~ October to Dec. '05 ~ August & Sept. '05 ~ Typical residential Moscow ~ From Vovchik's camera ~ Staritsa, Summer 2005 ~ Zamoskvorechye district of Moscow, May 2005 ~ Ryazan to Krainka, Tula region, Summer 2005

July 2005. A trip with Vovchik, from Ryazan to Krainka, Tula region, a nostalgic 10-day stay in the Krainka sanatorium, famous for its mineral waters. Contact me for details of Krainka if you want "the time stays still" experience. Cheap too, no more than $25/day [2007 correction: perhaps $35 now] but be warned that food is grotesquely overprocessed.

  Decapitated and fixed up Lenin in the Village of Zakharovo, Ryazan region, 35km south-west from Ryazan. In 2003 his head was knocked or sawed off by a group of juvenile delinquents. The local authorities had Lenin restored to his former glory with some welding and a couple of screws. Click to enlarge.

This image will find its permanent place on the Russian Surreal Experience page, a part of my Misery Tourism concept.

 
  The City of Mikhailov, Ryazan region, 60km south-west, on our way to Krainka. The sign says "Welcome" while a WW2 gun points at you.  To be added to my collection of cute absurdities.  
  The city of Novomoskovsk, Tula region, 40km east from Tula. Novomoskovsk, founded 70 years ago, took, as its logo, this statue of two naked girls playing ball on horses.  
  This one-legged alcoholic will probably end up somewhere among my Misery Tourism pages, for the exquisite enjoyment of the connoisseurs of things sick and perverse. Taken in the village of Voskresenskoye, Tula region, about half-way between Tula and Suvorov.

Misery Travel --> Drinking the old-fashioned Russian style

 
  The Mechta (= "dream") Cafe in Suvorov, 10km from the Krainka Sanatorium. Mechta is the best cafe in this town of 30 thousand. Food was especially appreciated after a few days of grotesquely over-processes "sanatorium" food. Read about sanatoriums and other non-standard accommodation options on my www.staritsa.info or www.cheap-moscow.com

 

 
  The "Culture Palace", an essential component of just about every Russian town. The city of Suvorovo, Tula region. I highly recommend the Mechna ("Dream") cafe located inside this Palace of Culture.  
  A small market right under a "No Selling" sign. To be added to my collection of NO signs. The Krainka Sanatorium, Tula region, summer 2005.

 

 
  An example of early 70s public art. Click on the photo to see the whole piece and a few close-ups. Check out the Collective Farm Art page somewhere on www.staritsa.info  
  Dining hall  
  Most provincial hotels will have this style toilet, with a shelf so that you can contemplate what you've done.

Another Russian Misery Tourism detail

 
  Toilets like this, a standard 10 years ago, are now a disappearing species. For my Misery Tourist clients I will find all the filth and dirt and decay you expect.

This photo, made nearly transparent, will also make a nice subversive background for one of my "serious" business services pages at www.oldmanfriday.com.  Or perhaps I'll use it straight to illustrate "I'll look after your unfinished business" service. In any case this photo is destined to find its permanent home on one of the more "serious" pages.

 
  Cuban workers who found themselves in Sasovo, Ryazan region, 40-something years ago made this statue of Hemingway. From Vovchik's collection of curiosities. More about Vovchik at www.staritsa.info/ryazan.htm  
  The meaning of this plastic plate/spoon/fork set is "closed for lunch".  
  An imitation of the Moscow Kremlin in the village of Azeevo, Ryazan region.  

Winter 2007- Spring 2008 ~ My dacha ~ Summer 2007 Part 2 ~ 2007, mostly Staritsa, horses, and trips between St. Petersburg & Staritsa ~ Spring & Summer 06 ~ Winter '06 ~ October to Dec. '05 ~ August & Sept. '05 ~ Typical residential Moscow ~ From Vovchik's camera ~ Staritsa, Summer 2005 ~ Zamoskvorechye district of Moscow, May 2005 ~ Ryazan to Krainka, Tula region, Summer 2005

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