Russia part 3

Happy Christmas eve!

It really is a winter wonderland here, the snow is nestled on all the trees and is lightly falling. We are staying indoors today, in the hopes that my cold will go away! It's nice to have a day to relax, we have been non-stop since we got here!

Yesterday was a very interesting day. We went to The Museum of the Great Patriotic War and Victory Park, which is dedicated to WWII, and tells Russia's side of that story. Did you know 27 million Russians died in WWII? I seem to think I was taught that but I didn't remember it. I'm so surprised it wasn't taught more in schools. We focus on the 6 million jews killed during the Holocaust, and the 7 million others who were killed too, but somehow we breeze right past the 27 million Russians. There is the Hall of Memory and Sorrow that has a chain hanging for every 10,000 people killed. There are so many chains, it is unbelievable.

There were six dioramas that showed pivotal scenes from the war, some victorious, some very tragic, all beautifully done. This was my favorite, showing a battle at day-break that was held in the city.

Unfortunately, they didn't have an English explanation of this diorama so I couldn't get a description of it, only that it was held in the city and was triumphant for the Russians! There is a quote above it in German, but I'm not sure what that says, either. Yeesh!

The upstairs rooms in the gallery were amazing! They had a huge room that had names of all the soldiers and citizens who gained a certain heroic medal during the war. It was given to those alive and dead who acted heroically, and it is amazing!

This is Steve and Lisa sitting on a bench. I am across the room taking the photo:

As you can see, it is huge! What you can't see is a giant dome, above that golden border at the top of the frame. That is humongous and gorgeous!

The walls were covered in Russian names, of all the people who had won the medal. There were a lot of them!

Steve was convinced he looked just like the man in the statue. Lets compare:

I think Steve is much more handsome than the statue! Although this picture might illustrate a different point:

He will probably be annoyed that I posted that. But if he doesn't want his nostrils posted in cyberspace, he shouldn't photobomb my photographs! It is his favorite thing to do. When I am taking pictures of wherever we are, he'll sneak up on me and jump into the picture at the last session. Then I end up with beautiful photos like this! I have a lot of odd pictures from this trip, actually. I have a new camera, and it is touchscreen, which means I had to get used to it. One of the things that is cool about it is that if you tap the sceen twice, it'll take a picture. However, that means I have a lot of pictures of the ground. It's very silly.

I guess there are some things you don't learn with a photo minor!

In Russia they don't celebrate the "Catholic Christmas" which is what they call December 25th, with Santa Claus, etc. They have Father Frost or Ded Moroz, who brings presents to children at New Years Eve. He wears an ankle-length red coat and carries a staff. He has a helper, Snegurochka, or the Snow Maiden. She wears a silver and blue coat. Folklore tells that she is the daughter of Spring and Frost. One story is really sad: she becomes great friends with a Shepherd, and wants to love him, but isn't able to. Her mother takes pity on her and gives her the ability to love. But as soon as she falls in love with him, her heart warms and she melts away. They had huge statues of these two, so Steve and I of course got a picture in front of them:

It was so cold when we were posing for this picture! We took one and hoped for the best!

I still have tons of pictures, but I am very hungry and want some lunch. I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas tomorrow! xoxo