Moscow is huge. I do not have the statistics but I will seek them out for later.
At its centre is the Kremlin (which simply means 'fort' - many old towns have their kremlin)
The old part of the city sits around the Kremlin. It is mostly of 18th and 19th century with small corners of much older buildings. One of the reasons that you find so few ancient remains is that the buildings were mostly of wood, and fires and wars kept setting back developments!
There are 4 significant ring roads: the closest to the centre is the 'Boulevard' ring - an 18th19th century tree lined road: then the 'Garden' ring, a wide (8 lane) 20th century road that once skirted round the gardens of the old palaces; then the 'Third' ring, a recently completed outer ring road made up from older sections of road connected by fly-overs and tunnels. Last is the 'Moscow Ring', Moscow's equivalent of the M25!
Within the Moscow Ring the city is well wooded and there are many parks. The Moscow river winds through the city and there many are canals, lakes and one or two smaller rivers. The city is well served by water. The Moscow river is about the size of the Thames at London as it passes the Kremlin and travels on to eventually swell the waters of the Volga..
Most of the population live in apartment tower blocks; there are very few houses. The huge area between the Ring road and the Third ring is filled with row upon row of apartment blocks. They are the most enduring image of the city. Interspersed are industrial areas, parks, woods and lakes.
Geography lesson finished!
We have an 8th floor apartment just outside the Third ring. The windows look down on a spacious, tree dotted 'courtyard' with other blocks surrounding. There is a mixture of scruffy older blocks and post communist smarter blocks - guess which sort we are in :-( There are playgrounds, cars parked and a central services building, with shops on the 'outsides' of the blocks. This typical arrangement is repeated throughout the residential areas.
Today the ground is covered in a sprinkling of fresh snow overlying a treacherous layer of ice from a compacted previous snowfall. The roads though are kept clear. The public services are well prepared for this predictable state of affairs.
Do Svedanya
Graham
Sunday, 30 December 2007
Saturday, 29 December 2007
Christmas in Moscow
Well, I made it to Moscow!
I am still ill with the shingles and the journey,on 23rd, was a strain (to say the least!).
The title here is misleading ~ nothing happens on December 25th. Everyone goes to work and the Russian version of normality continues. Whilst I say nothing happens, my own experience on Christmas day was dramatic. My illness reached a crisis: my temperature soared, I was violently sick and I thought death was imminent! Olga nursed me through it though and I am now back to being normally ill.
I have been here a week now and have only ventured out once. It was -4C and the windchill doubled that, so it was a short journey to the bank and back. The weather does not interrupt routines for the stoic Russians. They are well prepared and it is always warm inside.
I will be living here for a few weeks and will let you know my impressions of life in a January Moscow amongst my Russian friends and family.
It has just started snowing.
Graham
I am still ill with the shingles and the journey,on 23rd, was a strain (to say the least!).
The title here is misleading ~ nothing happens on December 25th. Everyone goes to work and the Russian version of normality continues. Whilst I say nothing happens, my own experience on Christmas day was dramatic. My illness reached a crisis: my temperature soared, I was violently sick and I thought death was imminent! Olga nursed me through it though and I am now back to being normally ill.
I have been here a week now and have only ventured out once. It was -4C and the windchill doubled that, so it was a short journey to the bank and back. The weather does not interrupt routines for the stoic Russians. They are well prepared and it is always warm inside.
I will be living here for a few weeks and will let you know my impressions of life in a January Moscow amongst my Russian friends and family.
It has just started snowing.
Graham
Monday, 10 December 2007
Shingles
I have got the shingles!
Bloody Hell!
I had it many years ago and it was not too bad, as far as I can remember. This time it is awful.
For a week I suffered from occasional pains in the chest and back. It felt a bit like indigestion. I had no symptoms that suggested a heart problem so I was not too worried on that score.
Then it started to keep me awake. The pains became more intensive and I felt a bit feverish. It was time to seek medical help.
The doctor homed in on it straight away and told me that I would have a rash in the next day or so. He was correct. I now have pains, fever and an infuriatingly sensitive rash. At least I have the anti-viral drugs as well.
Shingles is a closely related to chicken-pox. It lies dormant in the body and re-appears when the immune system is weakened. Mine was weakened by the stress of caring for my senile father. I can identify the point at which I started to feel the pains and relate it directly to the stressful period. It can last for many weeks and this is worrying. I am in the process of preparing for an extended trip abroad. The thought of travelling for 6 hours is horrifying - two flights, changing at Zurich. I hate it enough when I am well! Then I have to adjust to living in a strange environment.
I have had to stop listening to some of my favourite pieces of classical music. You know the tingle that you get - hairs on the back of the neck, goose pimples etc. Well this effect drives a wave of pain through my shingles rash and detroys the pleasure. If I was a masochist I could enjoy it.
Illness is not on my agenda. I have lived free of it since being a child, no 'flu or colds etc., and it is a sobering experience.
Bloody Hell!
I had it many years ago and it was not too bad, as far as I can remember. This time it is awful.
For a week I suffered from occasional pains in the chest and back. It felt a bit like indigestion. I had no symptoms that suggested a heart problem so I was not too worried on that score.
Then it started to keep me awake. The pains became more intensive and I felt a bit feverish. It was time to seek medical help.
The doctor homed in on it straight away and told me that I would have a rash in the next day or so. He was correct. I now have pains, fever and an infuriatingly sensitive rash. At least I have the anti-viral drugs as well.
Shingles is a closely related to chicken-pox. It lies dormant in the body and re-appears when the immune system is weakened. Mine was weakened by the stress of caring for my senile father. I can identify the point at which I started to feel the pains and relate it directly to the stressful period. It can last for many weeks and this is worrying. I am in the process of preparing for an extended trip abroad. The thought of travelling for 6 hours is horrifying - two flights, changing at Zurich. I hate it enough when I am well! Then I have to adjust to living in a strange environment.
I have had to stop listening to some of my favourite pieces of classical music. You know the tingle that you get - hairs on the back of the neck, goose pimples etc. Well this effect drives a wave of pain through my shingles rash and detroys the pleasure. If I was a masochist I could enjoy it.
Illness is not on my agenda. I have lived free of it since being a child, no 'flu or colds etc., and it is a sobering experience.
Thursday, 6 December 2007
"Struggling Authors"
To all writers who feel isolated and unsupported I highly recommend "Struggling Authors". A very young site that is dedicated to helping new writers to get published. The site needs to build up its community, so if you have pages waiting on the word processor and you are not sure what to do with them then have a look, join in and see what others in the same position are doing.
I will let you in through my own little feature (just so you don't miss it!)...................
http://strugglingauthors.co.uk/authorofthemonth.aspx
I will let you in through my own little feature (just so you don't miss it!)...................
http://strugglingauthors.co.uk/authorofthemonth.aspx
Tuesday, 4 December 2007
The price of independence
I have just had a few days caring for my 89 year old father. It has been an eye-opener!
Mother (87) needed a break. She is fit, alert and active so I packed her off to Belgium for a stay with my brother. The original intention was that Olga and I stayed with him and cared for him but Olga had a work offer she could not refuse and so I was left on my own.
He can just manage to walk short distances, has had three strokes and is seriously senile. He can dress himself (but needs tidying up afterwards!), eats well but slowly and has all the bathroom lifts and hoists to be able to keep himself clean.
Seems to be OK you think. The physical coping is not the problem - it is the mental onslaught of the loss of short-term memory..
He doesn't know where mother is. He keeps asking and I tell him all day long . He immediately forgets. If you say something it has to be repeated. It is partly deafness but partly senility. He forgets he has just eaten and asks for his dinner 10 minutes after finishing. This goes on all day long and there is just no escape.
I put him in the car and we go for a drive, just to have a change of scene. All through the ride he asks where we are going and I make up a destination just to say something.
There are blessed moments in the evening when he falls asleep in his chair or stares blankly at whatever is on the TV.
It is out of love for the dear old chap that I remain patient but it occurs to me that an employee in a care-home will not have this attitude. I am determined that both parents will keep their independence no matter what it takes. I see myself in him, 30 years on, and know what I would want for myself.
Mother (87) needed a break. She is fit, alert and active so I packed her off to Belgium for a stay with my brother. The original intention was that Olga and I stayed with him and cared for him but Olga had a work offer she could not refuse and so I was left on my own.
He can just manage to walk short distances, has had three strokes and is seriously senile. He can dress himself (but needs tidying up afterwards!), eats well but slowly and has all the bathroom lifts and hoists to be able to keep himself clean.
Seems to be OK you think. The physical coping is not the problem - it is the mental onslaught of the loss of short-term memory..
He doesn't know where mother is. He keeps asking and I tell him all day long . He immediately forgets. If you say something it has to be repeated. It is partly deafness but partly senility. He forgets he has just eaten and asks for his dinner 10 minutes after finishing. This goes on all day long and there is just no escape.
I put him in the car and we go for a drive, just to have a change of scene. All through the ride he asks where we are going and I make up a destination just to say something.
There are blessed moments in the evening when he falls asleep in his chair or stares blankly at whatever is on the TV.
It is out of love for the dear old chap that I remain patient but it occurs to me that an employee in a care-home will not have this attitude. I am determined that both parents will keep their independence no matter what it takes. I see myself in him, 30 years on, and know what I would want for myself.
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