Dragons Overtake the City

Three days into the new year and Rostov is besieged with dragons. They're everywhere ~ on the streets, in markets and, thanks to well-meaning friends, two are now living with me. Welcome to 2012, the Year of the Dragon.

As you may know, as per the Chinese Horoscope legend, one of 12 animals takes its turn to rule the year. Some cultures are serious this. We can assume that China is totally gung-ho and here in Russia, the Year of the Whatever is popular too. I'm remembering that 2008 was the Year of the Rat, then in 2010 came the Year of the Tiger and I was totally oblivious to animal of 2011.

Interestingly, at local theaters is showing The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. And what think ye, dear blog reader, would this be a coincidence or nyet ~ that this movie was released in time for the Year of the Dragon? (Click photo to enlarge.)

Will you be seeing this movie? Think I'll find dragons elsewhere. . .

Here are dragons on Voroshilovski Street. Got some rubles handy? Tempted to ask this sales lady about her official title. Imagine if it were Vendor of Dragons. How about that on a resume?

Dragons up close, rather domesticated, in fact. . .

Besides toy dragons, on New Year's cards, paper dragons are available. Let's have a peek.

Happy little dragons. One has a verse inside. . .

Ahem, let's have some fun (or not) and translate this thing. . .

Let the cute little dragon bring success and joy the whole year. All will be "Outstanding, " all will be successful and in everything will be good luck. (The "Outstanding" here means an A+, as in school work.) Well now, if that doesn't just warm the heart. . .

Peter, Paul and Mary are itching to share their special dragon song. Could they have released this in a Year of the Dragon? There are ways to find out, of course. Besides that, we could wallow in theories about subtle meanings of the lyrics. But hey, for those of us of a certain age, we can enjoy the memories. . .

Thank you dear friends for your interest in the Year of the Dragon. Wishing you a splendid new year. And, should any unpleasant dragons cross your path in 2012, may you successfully slay each and every one of them.

Of Billboards, Elephants and Snickers

Advertising is so interesting. Especially when it's about eating. Especially when it's about eating nutrient-loaded candy bars.

So what's with this Snickers? Let's zoom on in a wee bit closer. Say, can you smell that yet? As for me, my nose is still processing the men's after-shave that just wafted past. . .



Have you ever eaten an elephant?

Snickers Super: The Very Biggest in History.

No connection ~ either implied or inferred (whatever that means) ~ between plowing through Snickers Supers and turning into an elephant.

Panning from the River Don

Dear Friends, today I was thinking about you as I was standing on the Voroshilovskii Bridge over the Don, fiddling at length with my camera. Oh, let me tell you, thanks to a generous friend, I have a new camera. It's a nice combination of versatile, capable, light and unobtrusive. Step by step, I'm learning to use it. And today, today was panorama day. I've been dreaming of sharing with you wider shots of this wide, wild wonderful world here in Rostov-on-Don. And now, thanks to this jazzy little Sony Cyber-shot, here's a couple of pans plus a surprise.


Click to enlarge image. Bounce up and down in your chair and you'll feel the bridge shake. Turn on a fan and you'll feel the wind blow. People with any sense were wearing close-toed shoes and socks. Now don't ask me what I was wearing. Because I was thinking mostly about you, and you and. . .you and how to capture these sights, sounds and scents. So anyway, here's what we managed to capture of the Don River flowing west toward the Sea of Azov and then on to the Black Sea.


Now here's a really wide pan, starting from the left bank of the Don - which geography experts say is technically Asia - and looking mostly northwest. (Click image to enlarge.) I was wishing it would have been easy to capture the other side of the bridge, facing east. But there were minor details such as heavy traffic and a couple of thigh-high walls to vault and such. And I needed to protect my camera from traffic injury, you see. . . and besides, panning is fine, but let's not try dead-panning, okay? ;)

Now here's the surprise: How would you like to work and travel in the USA? See, here's your big chance! Please consider it, what a wonderful opportunity it could be. As the blue, diagonal text says, Open your America with Star Travel!

Welcome to The Year of the Tiger!

Here we are in the Year of the Tiger, as per the Chinese horoscope. This feels like a step in the right direction considering that 2009 was the Year of the Rat. In these parts, the horoscope is taken quite seriously and our fair city is over-run with the big cats. Say, love to have you come along for a look at a few local tigers.


(Click image to enlarge.) First, here's an special tiger from friends Volera and Julia of Kharkov, Ukraine. I'll admit to having had misgivings about allowing this gift precious space in my luggage, but I'm glad I gave in. It's amazing the sacrifices one will make for the animal of the year. So now there's a tiger in my own kitchen and a sweet memory of dear friends.


Speaking of tigers, remember The Eye of the Tiger from Rocky III? It was a huge hit in 1982 and here it is, just because.

Does that bring back memories, or what? Those years in the early 80's were golden for me. For one thing, I was teaching a bunch of 2-legged tigers at Irving High School, the home of Irving Tigers. Can you guess what was the favorite pep rally song?


But here we are in 2010, the Year of the Tiger in Rostov-on-Don and out on the street four-legged tigers have been spotted.

This lady is fiddling with her cell phone, totally oblivious to tigers in the vicinity.



These folks are exiting a major department store under a sign, We congratulate you (in the red letters) with the New Year and Christmas! (blue letters). They don't seem too worried about tigers. But yet on the table to the right of the exit are lots of tigers. Let's go in closer.



Here are tigers hard at work in various professions - traffic cops, army guys, navy guys and police officers. Hmm. . . wonder if there are any accountants, teachers or physicians parading as tigers?


In a florist window, a very watchful tiger. No pussycat, this one.


Here are tigers doing lots of things, mostly holding on to coins, a wish for prosperity in the coming year.


Here at the Cola kiosk on Pushkinskaya, see any tigers? Cute though, the Russian ДА, which is means, YES. But you already knew that. Da?


Back to home-sweet-home to a hot cuppa tea served up by our very own domestic tiger. Well, here's wishing you a wonderful year of the tiger!

How about you, dear blog reader, were you born during the year of the tiger? Or do you have special memories of the 1980's song, Eye of the Tiger? How about animal of the year trinkets - are you a push-over for those?

Of Masks, Furs and Frosty Reflections

Does the staff at your McDonald's wear masks? Just wondering. Because in Kharkov, Ukraine the current McD's uniform includes face masks. And I knew that you would want to know about this. But first things first.

(Click photos to enlarge) So they're featuring this neat menu item Grill Lavash, which looks very much like what was dubbed the Greek Burger, as I recall, during the 2004 Olympic games. At least at Russian McDonald's. Makes perfect sense, right?


Here's a close-up look at the Grill Lavash. Figured we'd better shoot it quick before any more disappeared. And yes, I'm quite aware of what this bite reveals about orthodonture and such, another topic altogether. . .


So here's McDonald's staff en masque. It's something to do with swine flu. Or politics. Or maybe it's about keeping warm on a very cold day.


After lunch, or maybe before, I happened upon this sculpture just outside McD's. Bet those two kiddos wish they'd worn their knickers. Or even a strategically-placed mask. Or two or three.


In the same spot are architectural feats of local buildings. You'll forgive me for not researching the names of these places. Because, for one thing, what is more interesting is the street scene in the background. This was around 2:30 pm, approaching dusk local time.


Another local building. More traffic backed up. Oopsie: Remember to turn off your flash, gypsy girl.


Later, picking my way along Pyhskinskaya, a store window with winter hats. Each degree the temperature drops, the fur hats with ear flaps look that much more fetching.



Speaking of fetching, here's a lovely blue coat in the window. Oh, and mercy me. . . there's a familiar face too. Say, the idea of a face mask sounds pretty wonderful right now. Just simply for keeping warm. Later learned that it was -6F.

Easing into the Monochrome of a Russian Winter

As the days shorten, the late afternoon sunshine gives a muted, gray look to the streets here in Rostov-on-Don. Care to join me for a quick look at highlights around the city?


Meet Alexander Pyshkin, (1799 - 1837) beloved poet of Russia. His statue above overlooks his namesake thoroughfare, Pyshkinskaya Boulevard. It's likely that every city across Russia has a street named in his honor. (Click photo to enlarge.)



A block south of Pyshkinskaya, on Voroshilovskii Street we see that the Planet of Languages awaits ~ if per chance you're interested in language study. English is first on the list there, followed by German, Spanish, Italian, French, Turkish and Greek. How about that flag on the tongue! It makes perfect sense to the speaker of Russian. You see, in Russian, one word - язык - means either language or the physical tongue. So it's a visual pun.



Now we're on the main street through town, Bol'shoi Sadoviya Street - that is, Big Garden Street - which runs parallel to the Don River, several block south. Before perestroika, this was called Engels Steet. And during World War 2 when Rostov was occupied, Nazi troops marched along it on their way to work. Nowadays, all that is mostly forgotten as young folks stroll along listening to their iPods.




Zipping east a couple miles on Bol'shoi Sadoviya, we come to Theatre Square. This area is a hub of community activity. You see the fountain, the Tractor Theatre on the left, Stella the obelisk in the distance overlooking the Don steppe. Notice the boys running on the right. They've got plans and we'll catch up with them in a minute.



Tractor Theatre, there on the left, yes it's really named that. Simply because of its shape, a salute to the value of agriculture in the area. Seen from the air, the tractor shape is more discernible. Well, surprise, surprise! I happen to have an aerial shot here handy. Especially for You!




Please click to enlarge. Beyond Stella, the white boxy building is the theatre. The wheel wells are there on the right and left. And the machine is headed this a way!



Back down on earth, let's zoom in on Stella, the golden girl who commemorates the end of Nazi occupation of World War 2. She's taller than the Statue of Liberty, as I recall, and is built overlooking the Don River and wide open steppe beyond that. Stella is visible for miles as a person approaches Rostov from the south.



Remember those boys? Well in the last few minutes they realized the fountain was perfect for climbing. A little muddy but that makes it all the better.



And now for a quick look at posters on display in an underground walkway. On the left: To sell in a civilized, cultural manner ~ (is) honorable work! On the right: Come comrades! Come join us at the collective farm!

Runaway Bus in Russia: The Rest of the Story

Just in case you missed this, recently a passenger bus in Perm, Russia had brake failure and crashed into 20 vehicles before coming to a stop two kilometers down the road. The drama peaked when the bus plowed through a pedestrian walkway and a man escaped certain death by millimeters. His peripheral vision must be amazing. Watch the video.

Doesn't that just make your heart pound? Good lesson for when crossing the street. I'm going keep my eyes on those drivers. Listen, I just found an update on the story: Here's an interview with the surviver, Vitaly, 23, a medical student who tells about being late for a date. Gotta love this!

Here's the near-miss in slow motion from YouTube:

And that's not all! This is the near-miss from four cameras, as reported on the all-news station out of Moscow.




I can imagine that our hero, Vitaly, bought his girlfriend flowers. Better yet, maybe she bought him some! How about you, dear blog reader? Any near misses? Ever beyond thankful for a *guardian angel?*

Local Cuisine: On a Roll, in a Dumpling

Anybody else partial to McDonald's? It's a great place to meet people. And besides that, their country-fried potatoes with cheese sauce on the side are simply yummy. Say, does your McDonald's have Caesar Wraps? Well, welcome to Russia!


In Russian, it's just called Caesar Roll. (Click image to enlarge.) It's breaded chicken with salad ingredients and dressing. Pretty good, actually. Oh, and about that green neon sign on the right. As you see, it says РИС, pronounced reese. It's the Russian word for rice and that's a little suchi restaurant. Not that I have an intention.ever.of trying that any time soon. But we digress. . .


Back to our Mickey D's billboard here, let's zoom on in. The black word in the upper left says Caesar. In Russian, it's pronounced very close to the English. But the first letter represents a sound that we don't have in English. *Ц* is pronounced ts which is so close to the English s sound to my ear. But I'm often corrected to get the t sound in there too. The Russian ear can really hear the difference. And this is the land of the Russian ear, after all.

The next consonant is *З* which is like the English letter z. And then the last major letter, the *р* makes the r sound. The little squiggle after that, much like a small b is the soft sign. And we won't even start talking about the soft sign, now will we? Nyet! ;)


Hey, while we're here in the neighborhood, just beyond this Caesar Roll sign is a major supermarket. This is where I find exotic stuff such as peanut butter and celery. Say, how about a stroll in the freezer section. Because there in the freezer section we will find a classic Russian fast food, pelmeni!

These are little dough dumplings that need only to be boiled in water. A serving might be 8 to 10 of these. Pelmeni can be filled with ground beef or potatoes or cabbage. And then there are sweet ones filled with cherries and such. As I recall, the sweet ones are called vareniki. (Now please don't make me look that up. I'm already past my look-it-up quota for the day.)



Looking down the aisle. The whole array of dumplings. Your mouth watering yet? These little pelmeni can be ho-hum. But they're easily jazzed up. Hold on, I recall a photo of jazzed up pelmeni here somewhere on this very computer. . .


Ah yes, here we go. . .

Here's a bowl of your basic ho-hum pelmeni. Usually served with a dollop of sour cream and a spring of parsley. And that works. Those garnishes - sour cream and greens - are nearly requisite here in Russia. So these are the bare bones pelmeni. But hold on, there's more. . .


Here we go. Looks like red peppers, celery and. . . oh yes. My personal chef remembered mayo - which will do in the absence of sour cream - and something green. Oh yeah!

You know, much as I like the McDonald's Caesar roll and country-style fries and meeting new people there, I can be happy as a clam with a quiet dinner of pelmeni while watching the all-news channel out of Moscow.

How about you dear blog reader? McDonald's in Russia? Pelmeni - ever make it yourself? How 'bout Russian garnishes? Want to hear about your experiences!

We Wall Rock You! Oh yes we well!

Greetings from Kiev, Ukraine. How about some local graffiti, mis-spellings and all. Thought you might enjoy this salute to the music group Queen.

Oh, and then along the sidewalk, this throw-back to Soviet days caught my eye. See that hammer and sickle?

Let's zoom on in closer. . .

Now there's a paradigm shift for you. Think the Red Skins might be interested in a new logo?

Graffiti in a language other than ones own can get a little tricky. Various obscenities mis-spelled can be almost funny. And I'll spare you any of that. Have to admit though that if I were tempted to scrawl on local walls - please rest assured that I have no such plans - the message would probably end up being obscene at least to the grammatical purist.

Soviet Russian Pins on the Street

In Rostov-on-Don, a lady sets up shop a couple hours each weekday and sells these lapel pins. My impression is that during Soviet times, such pins were to a Russian what t-shirts are to Americans. Besides being fun to wear, they're a handy way of showing a bit of where we have been and what we've done. One website says that years ago, trading pins on the street was a popular pastime, apparently they were traded much like baseball cards.

This lady - Olga is her name, as I recall - has collected these pins from various estate sales. Looking at her pin collection is like walking through Soviet history. Say, care to join me for a closer look? (Click photos to enlarge.)


Most of these pins are related to the Olympic games. Several are especially interesting. Let's zoom on in closer.


A couple of these pins catch my eye. In the upper right is a red and gold pin that says CSSR 25. I was pretty proud of myself - for a few minutes, anyway - for deciding that was for the 25th anniversary of the USSR. Except it can't be: For one thing, USSR in Russian is spelled CCCP and besides that 1945 - in small print - was not the 25th anniversary of the USSR. Oh well. This is when I turn to my local experts. And there are many. Starting with the lady who is selling these. Here's betting she knows exactly the story behind that pin.

Another interesting pin lower right, silver with Roman numerals XXII. That would be for the 22nd Olympic games in Moscow in 1980. Remember when the US boycotted those games? (Boy we showed them a thing or two, didn't we? haha)

Another interesting pin is top center and says PRESS, in English, of course. The matching pin to the left says International Exhibition and seems to involve oil - power - and agriculture, I'm guessing. Maybe the engineers among us would have an idea. Again, I'll get the pin seller lady would know exactly the story behind those pins.

Anybody have a major interest in such pins? No promises here, but I can get them really quite inexpensively.

Let's Go Shopping!

Say, care to join me for a morning shopping trip to Central Market? You know, I'm not into recreational shopping. To me, shopping is w-o-r-k. But add a colorful, cultural photo opportunity to the mix and I'm there. So off we go! This includes sound as well as sights because guess what - in recent days I've learned a thing or two about using the movie mode on my still-photo camera. Oh this is exciting. So come along. I think you'll enjoy standing with me on some steps overlooking part of the market.




How did you like that? What a contrast, eh? The magnificent cathedral and than the ordinary little shopping kiosks nearby.


Say, let's sashay on over to the vegetable department. The fresh produce - the bright peppers are so beautiful in August. This video is more a learning exercise than anything. Thought I should tell you that first. Just because.



Note to self: no need to be shrieking out orders to folks - Smile! Smile! - and various comments from behind the camera. See, this movie mode picks up sounds, and so learn to cut the chatter when shooting video. Anyway, the idea here is to get a taste of the interior of the market. And maybe another time I'll add subtitles to translate what's being said, but that's something for another lesson, another video. . .

Thank you for joining me dear friends! Trust you enjoyed our shopping trip as much as I did!

Kharkov, Ukraine: A Look around Town

Thursday evening caught the overnight train from Kharkov, Ukraine to Kiev. That's pretty slick: A hotel on wheels and surely the best rate anywhere. Several express trains run daily between these cities, the two biggest in the country. Say, join me for a quick look around the city. . .

The Kharkov train station. (Click to enlarge.)

Another view of the Kharkov train station. Inhale, exhale, don't breathe! Good looks as though we got a good shot even w/out a tripod, something I'm not inclined to lug around.

The Soldier Statue on the corner of The 23rd of August and Lenin Streets. On the 23 of August, 1943, Fascist troops were driveт from Kharkov.

Just past the soldier, apartments being constructed. Metro entrance on left in foreground, 23rd of August station. Who knows you might decide to invest in Kharkov real estate. Or come to see the museums or visit wonderful churches. Then this will help get you oriented. And being oriented is a very good thing. BTW, the soldier is oriented westwardly. How about a time out for some colorful shots. . . we can revisit monuments later.

Florist across the street on February 15th. Valentine's is an emerging holiday here. They did a thriving business on the 14th. And I must say that I did my part!

In a fabric store, photo taken with my *hidden camera.* A rainbow of zippers. Got your choice of color and length. Saw a sign that said invisible zippers. And truly, they were.

Need a button? This bank of buttons is nicely organized, nearly twice as wide as seen here.


Okay, back to things memorial:

In 1941, things started getting rough in Kharkov. This monument is behind the soldier statue.


The war ended in 1945.

People pass these monuments every day in their comings and goings. The youngest war veterans are now elderly. Folks in their 80's were kids during the war and they still remember.