Fall and Winter 2010

A typical one of Tina's renal apartments, winter photos from the City of Kandalaksha beyond the Polar Circle, cheap eateries in Moscow, registration paperwork....

 

The next few photos are from Valentina's rooms/apartments near Metro Belorusskaya, to be used for www.unclepasha.com/tina.htm

"Dear residents! Should strangers (homeless, people you don't know, those ringing apartments at random, "Jehovah's Witnesses" etc.) appear in our section of the building please call the on-duty unit of the 63rd Militia Division at 8(495) 945-33-49"

 

 

Telephone wiring of the classic "old building" type. Both the building and the apartment itself are an example of a were a successful apparatchik would be living from early 50s.

In the 70s having this type of floor was a sign of success. They were polished and waxed weekly.

Valentina takes great care of beds and linen and anything that has to do with NOT sleeping alone. I haven't had the heart to ask her if she supplies women on demand in addition to her "Russian brides".  Would anyone happen to know?

 

A view from the apartment window. This is typical "Stalin era Moscow". .

Belorusskaya Metro Station. All of Valentina's 3-4 apartments are within walking distance from it.

An agency that specializes in Arctic travel. Based in Kandalaksha. To be added to www.kandalaksha-reserve.org

I've added this a blood pressure meter to my Ovchinnikovskaya apartment (www.unclepasha.com/moscow_apartment.htm ) so that they know when a stroke or a heart attack is coming. A real possibility in this bitch of a city.

Theodore, Alexandra's son, playing with money pretending to be rich before it all goes to pay bills. Perhaps to be used for my Fees page?

Tania. To be added to my Russian Brides page.

Melted candles. A souvenir from summer 2010.

Registration paperwork. Each person being registered requires two pages filled out in duplicate. No, copies not allowed.  A payment of fees needs to be made at the state bank. It can easily take an hour to pay 20 roubles (70 cents). The point appears to be not so much to collect fees but to remind people of how little their time is worth. Make people just loops. Get them used to doing mindless things. Mark my words: Russia is gearing up for yet another big offensive and is preparing its "citizens" to mass unquestioning obedience.

Add to the "Scam and tricks" page. Most seemingly good offers have "not included" in really small print. Add to the Tricks and Scam page of www.moscowdrivers.net  Also add the story of naming a low price over the phone and announcing the one three times higher when they have you in their hands. And another one of claiming that someone else gave wrong information. Russians are becoming masters of tricks that, while far from being fair, don't yet constitute crime.

Potemkin village in the Kadashi district

"Organic" shelf in a Kandalaksha supermarket. To be moved to www.kandalaksha-reserve.org . Also a passage on the changed food situation even in small towns is to be added to www.unclepasha.com/vegetarian_russia.htm

www.arabsoap.ru has olive oil they say is NOT made of animal shreds. But it is expensive. About $15 per one bar of soap.

This was perhaps my last attempt to do good to people. I got this homeless person warm clothing for winter and set him up with a place to live and work. After two weeks he was drinking, smoking, and using ridiculous amounts of barbiturates (that sell here with no prescription and cheap). Here he is, asleep in the common hall, causing me considerable embarrassment before neighbours.
 

The only Catholic church in Moscow is at Ulitsa Malaya Gruzinskaya 27/13 (Metro Belorusskaya, Krasnopresnenskaya, Barrikadnaya, or 1905).

The following few are from Kandalaksha or Luvenga, Christmas holidays 2010/2011

And English summary of the Kandalaksha Nature Reserve and the City of Kandalaksha pages will soon be added to www.kandalaksha-reserve.org 

This is how I stay in touch during my damn travel. Don't send megabytes of photos or huge .pdf files!

Moscow to Kandalaksha train.

The Kandalaksha Nature Reserve ( www.kandalaksha-reserve.org ) lady responsible for their museum. Captured in the process of meeting NY.

Another Kandalaksha Nature Reserve character. To be used to illustrate "stern Russian woman" concept. In reality she is one of the very few fun people I met in Kandalaksha. And she is a Pomor  - an ethnic group that can be considered "anti-Russian". The core of Pomors formed from those who escaped Ivan the Terrible's terror in the second half of the 16th century and who were seeking religious freedom after Nikon's reforms.

An illegal hotel ("unregistered" is synonymous to "illegal" in this land) where we stayed in Kandalaksha. Beds at an equivalent of $17/night, one whole huge apartment for $35. Problematic water supply in winter but you are welcomed to another building to take a proper bath. Highly recommended. Talk to me if you need a place to stay in Kandalaksha. I cannot give out too much info as staying unnoticed by local authorities is the only way to operate if you are small..
 

Clutter in my car. There was a complaint on the board ( www.unclepasha.com/guestbook.htm ) to the effect that my car is a mess. Most things you see here are not just useful but essential.

Move to the "Prohibition signs" page.

The next few are for the "Cheap eateries" project.

Cheap eatery on Tverskoy Boulevard

The small barn that looks like a one-car garage at the back of this mosque is a small but reputable eatery with an established reputation of getting you full with good stuff for an equivalent of $5. Bolshaya Tatarskaya, Metro Novokuznetskaya or Paveletskaya, very near to my apartment.

A few photos below are from a factory cafeteria in Kadashi, also very near to my apartment.

Note that "institutional" eateries are typically open for lunch only, eg. 12:30 to 4pm.

We were **ordered** to wash out hands before eating by a stern Soviet-breed woman. As of recent I've been finding myself feeling progressively good towards Communist types, thanks to Putin and his crowd.

I think this meal for two was just over 300 roubles ($10-something)..

The buckwheat story made me buy a pack. Here is buckwheat and mushrooms (mushrooms collected and dried by Alexandra - see www.kandalaksha-reserve.org and www.cheap-moscow.com/yaroslavskoye_shosse.htm  ). I was told that perhaps the most Russian of cereals, buckwheat, looked and tasted "Indian" after it went through my hands.

 

The cutest hostel I know of in Moscow is located within this block, on church property. Beds from $25, rooms from $80 or so.  See their site at www.sweetmoscow.com  Soon I plan to do my own report on this place.

Now you can take an express train from Sheremetyevo-2 to Metro Belorusskaya. Details later, probably at my www.moscowdrivers.net