Walk by the River

Surprise spring snow storms sent the temperatures
back to double figure minus again last night,
so more ice on the melted river where 
we had walked a few weeks ago.

Cold day down by the river.

A brave fisherman tries his luck with a rod!

We went for a walk in search of Lenin's house. This was his family house near the river. When we were looking around an old lady asked us if we wanted to see inside. Why not! Very interesting to see many of the original furnishings and even Mrs Len's singer sewing machine sitting beside her bed. We were not allowed to take pictures but the lady bent the rules when I said my mother had a singer too. We were allowed to take a picture.

Zinger made in Podolsk.

Shed and well behind the house.

The back of the house.

Out buildings and dog house.

Where has pussy been?

This is Pussy. He found a spot of sun!

Spring day in Moscow

Our days journey started at the train station with the local wild dogs chasing trains when they came into the station. I knew that dogs chase cars and the postman but these critters chase trains!

The spring weather dished up quite a variety for us during the day. Rain when we left the apartment, brief and weak period of sun, sleet and heavy snow by the day's end.

It was starting to snow when we walked down Red Square to the river. A group of workers were mending and relaying an area of cobble stones using an interesting selection of tools.

The river has mainly thawed and this has made life happier for the  ducks.

We had planned to visit the Russian Gallery of Art. It was quite a walk but finally found it.

There are many buildings here but this is the one we visited.

The artist whose work we wanted to see was Ivan Shishkin. The collection was amazing. His work is mainly landscapes of Russia. Here is a link below to some of his most famous paintings. If you click on the link and follow the arrows at the bottom of each picture you will see several of his works. the bears in the forest are the most well recognized of his paintings.
http://www.russianartgallery.org/famous/shishkin_morning.htm

When we walked out of the gallery to go to the Metro we found this interesting work of art.

Ice piles outside the gallery.

A great end to an interesting day following earlier mishaps when we managed by mistake to end up in the middle of nowhere by getting off at the wrong station. A kind Russian man called Bill helped us find our way to the Metro after two bus rides not really knowing where we were heading. All's well  that ends well!

About Town in early Spring

View of our town from the other side of the river.

Small church in the snow

Another view of the town from high on the river bank

I love the spruce tree it stays green all winter

I love the silvery shadows on the snow

More silvery shadows

Great truck that tried to lift a heavy load

More snow today at the end of March

ice piles wait to melt

what does melt when there is a brief rise above zero, freezes again at night still.

Another church near the centre

Pussy along the way...most cats here are descendants of the Siberian Forest Cat

Fancy a good slide on the ice before it melts? Mind that you stop before the steep drop down to the frozen river though!

Choose your smoking apparatus here ...everything you have always never wanted!

River Walk with a difference

It's not every Monday afternoon that you get to walk 2.5 kilometers along a frozen river, so this was special!

Walking down the middle of the frozen river.

Grasses on the banks

picnic on the river

The old church from the 1600's on the river bank

Family lighting a camp fire on the river bank where the 2 rivers meet

It was an amazing experience walking all the way from the church village back to Podolsk along the frozen river. It is quite wide in places. We saw children playing on the slopes along the banks and having picnics and fishing in holes in the ice. People were skiing and walking along the river. It was very interesting to see a the town and the village from a different vantage point while the river is still frozen. It seems to be a place where folks come to play and relax.

Ice sculptures on the window sill

                          Is this the famous Dorsal the Dolphin?

Ice vulture sculpture

Not real sure what these could be!

Could be a stalking cat or lion.

Took these pictures this afternoon from the classroom windows. The melting ice outside the windows has formed some interesting sculptural shapes.