Botanical garden

What is missed on this blog is that I have moved to Kyiv approximately 3 weeks ago. The absence of me here is easely explained by general uneventfulness of Zaporizhzhya (May), Master's diploma defence (June) and lack of time while moving to another city (July).

This Saturday we had a picnic in our faourite reading-walking-resting place in Kyiv - the National Botanical garden. It is huge and is a bit of a patchwork of different terrestrial ecosystems (Crimea, Middle East, Caucasus, Carpathians and others). The place we chose for our picnic is a lawn near the Korean pavilion. This is a nice place to relax, to do some yoga and to walk on the grass. Although walking on the grass is not really an option for now, when clover is in blossom with all the bees, bumblebees and wasps dashing around. 

This little outdoor party took place in honour of my good friend Veronika, who sent me a bottle of French chardonnay for my birthday a few weeks ago. The wine really added to the atmosphere and was an inspiration to the whole meal.

Chardonney, the ornament of the meal

Simplicity is beauty: Rigas Doms’ ceiling

Interior of the Riga Cathedral is a kingdom de beauté et simplicité. The two predominant colours here are creamy-white and terra-cotta. This design is a proof that sometimes you don’t need pompous wall and ceiling paintings or intricate frescoes. Brick red geometrical stars are calming and mesmerizing.

Rigas Doms' interior. Film photograph October 2014

Rigas Doms' ceiling. Mobile photograph October 2014

Khortitsa. Beauty is just around the corner

Rumour has it that BBC will shoot our island of Khortitsa in May for its documentary about famous islands. This can do us a lot of good. If foreigners take notice of our natural resources maybe our people will finally appreciate them. To start with, I would be glad if they didn't throw rubbish all around the island when camping, hiking, eating kebabs or whatever they do there. 

Here are some of my mobile photos from Khortitsa from last week.

The Church of the Saviour on Blood

The Church of the Saviour on Blood stands in the very heart of Saint Petersburg, easily visible from the Nevsky Prospect. Colourful and fancy, it looks like a birthday cake.

The Church of the Saviour on Blood, film photo, January 2015 

It drew my attention from the first sight, but it took me two weeks to make up my mind to go inside. I have seen it numerous times both in daylight and night. Still, it was a bit pricey for me and I didn’t have any discounts as I wasn’t a Russian student.

Leningrad of 80s

I have found several old postcards of St. Petersburg of around 1980’s at home.

Cover of the set, 1980

But to tell the truth this is not St. Petersburg, but Leningrad. It is in the air, in the flowerbeds, in the buses. See it for yourself

One hundred and one ticket to Hermitage

I have found some of my tickets form Hermitage lately. These are not all of them. To tell the truth I have lost count of the times I have been to Hermitage late December 2014 - beginning of January 2015.

Going to Hermitage in the late December is absolutely fine. You get in, take your ticket and relish the art you came for. Besieging Hermitage in the beginning of January can be the worst decision of your life. As Orthodox Christmas is on the 7th of January everybody is on holiday. After a few days of New Year's feast people are suddenly eager to see art. This mass craving is still a mystery for me. You have to stand in a queue for several hours to get in. You get a very nasty weather into the bargain. Cold, soaking wet, bored to death you are finally in, but you have something about an hour before the museum is closed.

A sunny winter day in Hermitage, Saint Petersburg, 2015

Failed vacation photographs

I am sure that sounds familiar: you are on vacation together with you friend or boyfriend/girlfriend and you are getting a bit tired of taking turns when photographing. Whether you are near the St. Paul’s Cathedral or the Colosseum there is not even one picture that would be an evidence of you being together there. So you finally decide to give you camera to a passerby. This is a difficult choice, isn't it?
Today I shall tell you about 4 typical mistakes of the vacation photograps.