Russian Kafe » winter

Maslenitsa

jim — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 10:00:51 +0000

This week is Maslenitsa or “Pancake week” in Russia. Maslenitsa is one of the oldest holidays in Russia, dating back to pagan times. It was originally a sun festival, celebrating the imminent end of winter. The holiday survived both the Christianization of Russia as well as the atheist Soviet rule. Maslenitsa is marked with celebrations and lots of Russian bliny (a type of pancake or crepe).

Link: Wikipedia article on Maslenitsa

Found Photo: Hockey Trio

jim — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 10:00:23 +0000

A photo of soviet children getting ready to play hockey (1976). From Soviet Photo magazine, via Soviet Photo Daily.

Found Footage: Ice skating on Red Square

jim — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 10:00:41 +0000

A temporary ice skating rink was built on Red Square this winter. Many special events and shows have been held there and the rink has also been open to the public. Here’s some footage from EuroNews showing some of the events.

Found Photo: Winter 1976

jim — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 10:00:20 +0000

A photo of soviet school children with their teacher in the winter snow (1976). From Soviet Photo magazine, via Soviet Photo Daily.

Russia Continues to Experience an Unusually Warm Winter

jim — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 10:00:52 +0000

This winter has been unusually warm in many European countries and Russia is no exception. According to some news articles, this is the warmest Russian winter in over 130 years. On Tuesday, the Russian Orthodox Church announced that they are considering holding special services to pray for snow.

“Winters in Russia are always tough, but rarely like this – so warm that bears aren’t hibernating and so gray that humans are having trouble waking up.” – AP

Link: Warm Spell in Russia Wakes Up the Bears
Link: The Russian Orthodox Church may issue a new service to pray for snow
Photo by: Yuri Timofeyev