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Author Topic: What makes the FSU so interesting?  (Read 437402 times)

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Offline ML

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What makes the FSU so interesting?
« Reply #50 on: October 27, 2011, 09:49:43 AM »
She doesn't like, trust or understand American drugs

My Gal is  just the opposite.  She refused most drugs, etc. in FSU but now, for first time she has gotten flu injection and pneumoccoccal vaccine, and has started taking miltivitamins and calcium supplements.  She would never trust those items back home.
A beautiful woman is pleasant to look at, but it is easier to live with a pleasant acting one.

Offline mendeleyev

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« Reply #51 on: October 27, 2011, 10:50:09 AM »
Quote
<blockquote>2 Questions:

- What is inside the packets above?

- Do you recognize any other services offered inside this pharmacy?
</blockquote>

I'm only guessing aspirin but, every time the wife returns from Russia she has a multitude of pharmaceuticals in packages just like that. She doesn't like, trust or understand American drugs


не аспирин. But close, try again.  :)

As far as other services, see anything resembling photo or foto services?

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Offline OlgaH

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What makes the FSU so interesting?
« Reply #52 on: October 27, 2011, 10:56:11 AM »
Gator, hope it was a great lunch!

It sounds like a great lunch!

Offline chivo

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What makes the FSU so interesting?
« Reply #53 on: October 27, 2011, 12:09:14 PM »

не аспирин. But close, try again.  :) 
Activated charcoal

Offline Muzh

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« Reply #54 on: October 27, 2011, 12:20:33 PM »
Activated charcoal

Of course. Every household has one in their medicine cabinet.  :P
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Offline Shadow

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What makes the FSU so interesting?
« Reply #55 on: October 27, 2011, 12:30:52 PM »


Time for another mini language lesson:

There is no c sound in the Cyrillic alphabet. Of course there is a letter resembling a C, but it is an S when sounded.

Therefore most words we'd associate with C usually begin with the letter K. Just like this one: краб.

If you guessed that краб = crab, then you've already figured out that Lay's has decided to introduce crab flavoured potato chips on Russian, Ukrainian and Belarussian market shelves.

After sampling, I'll politely pass (remind me to sell that Lay's stock after writing this). You might enjoy the taste however and perhaps the Lay's folks are on to something really big. Russian tastebuds and pocketbooks will eventually tell Lay's whether it's a really big success or a monumental blunder.

Lay's shareholders will be very crabby if this idea sinks. :D
I would bet that these are sold in the UK as " Prawn" flavour. However apart from the poorer status of prawn many Russian seem to have an aversion of their bug-like appearance.
Prawn flavour has in general flopped outside the UK, only the British seem to value this acquired taste.
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Offline Shadow

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« Reply #56 on: October 27, 2011, 12:36:25 PM »

Of course. Every household has one in their medicine cabinet.  :P
As a matter of fact we do. And even more interesting is that MrsShadows father on his visit to Belgium managed to obtain it from the local pharmacy processed in a medicin.

I need to translate our medicin cabinet some day before getting marked as terrorist for holding several radioactive materials...
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Offline Muzh

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« Reply #57 on: October 27, 2011, 12:57:04 PM »
As a matter of fact we do. And even more interesting is that MrsShadows father on his visit to Belgium managed to obtain it from the local pharmacy processed in a medicin.

I need to translate our medicin cabinet some day before getting marked as terrorist for holding several radioactive materials...

Shadow, this is so funny. All my years before travelling to UA (not even Europe) the only place I knew there was activated charcoal for medicinal purposes were at hospital, clinics, and the such. You could also find it in biology and chemistry labs. Never in my wildest dreams I would thought of finding it in the bathroom's medicine cabinet.
 
I wrote somewhere during my first visit to UA how I was poisoned by alcohol because of dificulties in translation.
To argue with a man who has renounced the use and authority of reason, and whose philosophy consists in holding humanity in contempt, is like administering medicine to the dead. Thomas Paine - The American Crisis 1776-1783

Offline SANDRO43

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« Reply #58 on: October 27, 2011, 03:31:42 PM »
- Do you recognize any other services offered inside this pharmacy?
Since they call themselves Lombard, do they sell panettone, too :D?

Milan's "Duomo"

Offline mendeleyev

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« Reply #59 on: October 28, 2011, 12:14:21 AM »
Quote
Activated charcoal

As Chivo, Shadow, Muzh and others know, activated charcoal is a great remedy for upset stomach. Think of TUMS and Alka Seltzer and anything they handle, activated charcoal does it but without the chemicals and artificial ingredients.

Great also for cleansing and detox.
« Last Edit: October 28, 2011, 12:21:09 AM by mendeleyev »
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Offline mendeleyev

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What makes the FSU so interesting?
« Reply #60 on: October 28, 2011, 12:24:56 AM »
Sandro, I think you know the answer already but I love the word association with your answer!

Several services are offered inside that pharmacy in the photo.


1- What is фото?


2- Okay, for ломбард lets do multiple choice:

a- Chiropractor
b- Pawnshop services
c- music records and cds
d- none of the above

What do you think?
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Offline Gator

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« Reply #61 on: October 28, 2011, 03:43:05 AM »
Not understanding Sandro's lombard comment, I searched the Internet and learned lombard banking was a form of pawn shop several centuries ago. 


I have  been inside apteka and I have never seen a counter displaying for sale unclaimed diamond rings and trumpets.   :D   So how does the pawnshop work?


Sandro - I still don't understand the connection with holiday bread.  You vast knowledge has again been the better of me.

Offline SANDRO43

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« Reply #62 on: October 28, 2011, 05:20:30 AM »
Not understanding Sandro's lombard comment, I searched the Internet and learned Lombard banking was a form of pawn shop several centuries ago.
Phil, correct, but Lombards were also known as bankers in general, as well as armour makers and goldsmiths, hence Lombard Street in London: 

St. Mary Woolnoth & St. Edmund the King
Quote
It runs from the corner of the Bank of England at its north-west end, where it meets a major junction including Poultry, King William Street, and Threadneedle Street, south-east to Gracechurch Street. It was a piece of land granted by Edward I of England to goldsmiths from a part of Northern Italy known as Lombardy (larger than the modern Lombardy region). It is the site of the church of St Mary Woolnoth, and number 54 was the long-standing headquarters of Barclays Bank before they moved to One Churchill Place in Canary Wharf. Until the 1980s most UK-based banks had their head offices in Lombard Street and historically it has been the London home for money lenders.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lombard_Street,_London

There's also a Lombard Street in San Francisco:
This "crookedest" street - an allusion to bankers' honesty ;D? - with its 8 tight hairpin turns has been used as the set for hairy car chases in several movies.

Quote
Sandro - I still don't understand the connection with holiday bread.  You vast knowledge has again been the better of me.
Panettone is Milan's (capital of Lombardy) traditional Xmas sweet bread, therefore a truly Lombard establishment abroad might be expected to offer it ;).
Milan's "Duomo"

Offline SANDRO43

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« Reply #63 on: October 28, 2011, 05:53:37 AM »
2- Okay, for ломбард lets do multiple choice:
a- Chiropractor
b- Pawnshop services
c- music records and cds
d- none of the above
What do you think?

Historically, Lombards first meant:
Quote
The Lombards (Latin: Langobardī), also referred to as Longobards, were a Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin who in the 1st century formed part of the Suebi. By the 5th century the Lombards had settled in the valley of the Danube where they subdued the Germanic Heruls and the Gepids.

From the Danube region they conquered the Byzantine Italy in 568 under the leadership of Alboin. They established a Lombard Kingdom in Italy, later named Kingdom of Italy, which lasted until 774, when it was conquered by the Franks, although Lombard nobles would continue to rule parts of the Italian peninsula well into the 11th century.
Some also think the name meant Long Beards. Then:
Quote
Their legacy is apparent in the regional appellation Lombardy and the term Lombard banking, after the many Lombard bankers, money-lenders, and pawn-brokers who operated in Western Europe during the Middle Ages.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lombards

The corona ferrea (Iron Crown) of Lombardy, used for the coronation of the kings of Italy until 1946. The dark band inside is supposed to have been made from an iron nail of the Cross.
« Last Edit: October 28, 2011, 05:59:57 AM by SANDRO43 »
Milan's "Duomo"

Offline mendeleyev

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What makes the FSU so interesting?
« Reply #64 on: October 28, 2011, 11:12:48 AM »
Sorry, should have qualified the questions.

The question should have been: what does the term mean in today's use in Russia?

1- What is фото?

2- Okay, for ломбард lets do multiple choice:

a- Chiropractor
b- Pawnshop services
c- music records and cds
d- none of the above

What do you think the term denotes today in Russia?
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Offline acctBill

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What makes the FSU so interesting?
« Reply #65 on: October 28, 2011, 01:09:01 PM »
Sorry, should have qualified the questions.

The question should have been: what does the term mean in today's use in Russia?

1- What is фото?

2- Okay, for ломбард lets do multiple choice:

a- Chiropractor
b- Pawnshop services
c- music records and cds
d- none of the above

What do you think the term denotes today in Russia?



Mendeleyev your first question is almost English.  фото looks almost like its English language counterpart, so I'll leave it for someone who doesn't read Russian.  To those that don't read Russian, a good hint is to concentrate on the last 3 letters of фото as they are the same as the word in English.

ломбард is Russian for pawnshop services.  I've never seen a pawnshop anywhere in the FSU.  I'm told they exist in Moscow but I've never been in one.  I would guess that pawnshops are a recent addition to the Russian business scene as I can't really see them existing under communism or even in the early days of Russian 'democracy '.

Offline Shadow

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What makes the FSU so interesting?
« Reply #66 on: October 28, 2011, 01:40:02 PM »


ломбард is Russian for pawnshop services.  I've never seen a pawnshop anywhere in the FSU.  I'm told they exist in Moscow but I've never been in one.  I would guess that pawnshops are a recent addition to the Russian business scene as I can't really see them existing under communism or even in the early days of Russian 'democracy '.
As official business I am unsure if they were in communist times, but know how much Russians like to keep their assets in gold and jewellery I am sure that pawn services have existed there a long time.
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Offline Misha

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« Reply #67 on: October 28, 2011, 01:50:10 PM »
...
« Last Edit: October 28, 2011, 05:40:56 PM by Misha »

Offline OlgaH

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« Reply #68 on: October 28, 2011, 02:43:43 PM »
ломбард is Russian for pawnshop services.  I've never seen a pawnshop anywhere in the FSU.  I'm told they exist in Moscow but I've never been in one.  I would guess that pawnshops are a recent addition to the Russian business scene as I can't really see them existing under communism or even in the early days of Russian 'democracy '.

Yes, there were lombards (pawnshops) in the USSR as municipal and  joint-stock companies. The government of course  held 75% of stocks and other 25% private individuals.

Offline mendeleyev

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« Reply #69 on: October 29, 2011, 01:46:04 PM »
At some point during an extended stay you'll need the services of a салон красоты или парикмахерская (beauty salon or barbershop). So with all the various options available how do you make the best choice?


салон красоты = beauty salon.

So here are just a few of the terms you may encounter in your search for a hair cut:
салон красоты (beauty salon)
Парикмахер стилист (hair stylist)
салон парикмахерская (hairdresser salon)парикмахерская (barber/hairstyling shop)
кабинет (office or cubicle of a hairdresser/nail specialist, etc



парикмахерская = barbershop.

Prices can be all over the board based on the prestige of the shop, but an average can be somewhere between 80 to 200+ rubles for a guy's haircut.
 

Beauty school diploma.
To make certain that you are in a licensed shop you'll see that the stylist is required to post both their diploma (see above) and his/her certification (pictured below) to work within this industry and firm.

Beauty/hair certification.
Depending on the shop the services can vary from a basic haircut to those found in an exclusive spa. In most cases the work you receive will likely be of very high quality. But often it's just like home, the choice of who to visit may come down to word of mouth recommendation from friends or by trial and error.
 
The work you'll receive will likely be of very high quality. But often it's just like home, the choice of who to visit may come down to word of mouth recommendation from friends or by trial and error.
« Last Edit: October 29, 2011, 02:02:43 PM by mendeleyev »
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Offline acctBill

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What makes the FSU so interesting?
« Reply #70 on: October 29, 2011, 04:58:32 PM »
At some point during an extended stay you'll need the services of a салон красоты или парикмахерская (beauty salon or barbershop). So with all the various options available how do you make the best choice?

салон красоты = beauty salon.
So here are just a few of the terms you may encounter in your search for a hair cut:
салон красоты (beauty salon)
Парикмахер стилист (hair stylist)
салон парикмахерская (hairdresser salon)парикмахерская (barber/hairstyling shop)
кабинет (office or cubicle of a hairdresser/nail specialist, etc


парикмахерская = barbershop.
Prices can be all over the board based on the prestige of the shop, but an average can be somewhere between 80 to 200+ rubles for a guy's haircut.
 

Beauty school diploma.
To make certain that you are in a licensed shop you'll see that the stylist is required to post both their diploma (see above) and his/her certification (pictured below) to work within this industry and firm.

Beauty/hair certification.
Depending on the shop the services can vary from a basic haircut to those found in an exclusive spa. In most cases the work you receive will likely be of very high quality. But often it's just like home, the choice of who to visit may come down to word of mouth recommendation from friends or by trial and error.
 
The work you'll receive will likely be of very high quality. But often it's just like home, the choice of who to visit may come down to word of mouth recommendation from friends or by trial and error.

Mendeleyev in London, there are many RW who work as hairdresser/stylists, some of them will have their Russian qualifications by their chair along with their UK qualifications.  The reason for this is because many of their customers are Russian and according to my wife this reassures the RW that her Russian hairdresser/stylist is properly trained.  After all who understands the UK qualifications?   :)


 

Offline mendeleyev

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« Reply #71 on: November 01, 2011, 08:00:15 AM »
In my view, the Moscow Metro is a worthy candidate for the 8th wonder of the world.


Moscow's Metro is second busiest only to the Metro in Tokyo, and on a normal weekday carries 8 to 10 million passengers and close to 12 million daily on weekends. Each day over 9,000 trains operate between 5am - 1am. Each line is identified by a number, a name and a colour. The Metro has approximately 301 km (187.2 mi) of rail, 12 lines and 182 stations.


So how do you navigate this beautiful but complex system?


It is not that difficult if you can read at least some basic Cyrillic. Each line is assigned an alphanumeric index (usually consisting of a number), a name and colour.
 

To help you know which direction you're traveling, the on-board voice announcements refer to the lines by name. A male voice announces the next station when traveling towards the centre of the city, and a female voice when going away from it. On the circle line the clockwise direction features a male announcer for the stations, while the counter-clockwise direction uses a female announcer.


Wall tiles like in this photo let you know the name of your station and if your station is a transfer station often wall tiles till give additional information such as the line, your station and future stations along the way. Each of those stations on the title below has the connecting line (with that line's stations) shown beneath the station.





Click on the photo to expand and see the map in clear detail.


The photo above is from the Курская (Kurskaya) station on the Circle Line, brown colour, Line #5. (In English it reads Koltsevaya and in Russia is Кольцевая, meaning circle.) You can see the next station in sequence from right to left, the same direction this train will travel. If this were your line and you realized the wrong direction however, just cross the hall and walk to the opposite platform in order to ride in the opposite direction.


Each station on the Circle Line (Ring Line) is a transfer station, connecting you to other trains as well. You can see the lines available in the menu below each station name on the tile above.


It pays to at least read some basic Russian because the interior signs are detailed and very helpful.





As you can see the top of this interior Metro sign shows "Exit to City" with arrows and then lists the other lines available from this station, giving their names, colours, and numbers to make it easy for you to navigate.



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Offline ML

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« Reply #72 on: November 01, 2011, 08:12:25 AM »
My worst problem comes when switching lines.

I can find my way into the first metro station, determine where my line is, and determine which side to stand on to get on the train going in correct direction.

But, oh my, when I get off first train and try to go up correct escalators and/ or stairs to switch lines (without going out of the system entirely), that I have not mastered.
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« Reply #73 on: November 01, 2011, 03:46:00 PM »
In my view, the Moscow Metro is a worthy candidate for the 8th wonder of the world.


Moscow's Metro is second busiest only to the Metro in Tokyo, and on a normal weekday carries 8 to 10 million passengers and close to 12 million daily on weekends. Each day over 9,000 trains operate between 5am - 1am. Each line is identified by a number, a name and a colour. The Metro has approximately 301 km (187.2 mi) of rail, 12 lines and 182 stations.


So how do you navigate this beautiful but complex system?


It is not that difficult if you can read at least some basic Cyrillic. Each line is assigned an alphanumeric index (usually consisting of a number), a name and colour.
 

To help you know which direction you're traveling, the on-board voice announcements refer to the lines by name. A male voice announces the next station when traveling towards the centre of the city, and a female voice when going away from it. On the circle line the clockwise direction features a male announcer for the stations, while the counter-clockwise direction uses a female announcer.


Wall tiles like in this photo let you know the name of your station and if your station is a transfer station often wall tiles till give additional information such as the line, your station and future stations along the way. Each of those stations on the title below has the connecting line (with that line's stations) shown beneath the station.





Click on the photo to expand and see the map in clear detail.


The photo above is from the Курская (Kurskaya) station on the Circle Line, brown colour, Line #5. (In English it reads Koltsevaya and in Russia is Кольцевая, meaning circle.) You can see the next station in sequence from right to left, the same direction this train will travel. If this were your line and you realized the wrong direction however, just cross the hall and walk to the opposite platform in order to ride in the opposite direction.


Each station on the Circle Line (Ring Line) is a transfer station, connecting you to other trains as well. You can see the lines available in the menu below each station name on the tile above.


It pays to at least read some basic Russian because the interior signs are detailed and very helpful.





As you can see the top of this interior Metro sign shows "Exit to City" with arrows and then lists the other lines available from this station, giving their names, colours, and numbers to make it easy for you to navigate.

Mendeleyev the Moscow metro truly is an marvel of beauty and function but for a non Russian speaking/reading foreigner it is difficult to master.  My wife and I have been to Japan and marvelled at how crowded the Japanese metro was compared to Moscow's.  However the big advantage of Tokyo's metro for a foreigner is that there is some English language signs and there are attendants that speak English to help tourists. 

Hopefully during the upcoming 2014 Olympics in Sochi when Moscow will be full of tourists the Russian government will increase the use of English language signs and employ English speaking employees in places like the metro to help guide tourists.   Otherwise there will be chaos during the the Olympics.

Offline mendeleyev

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What makes the FSU so interesting?
« Reply #74 on: November 01, 2011, 04:17:47 PM »
From today's Mendeleyev Journal:

Moscow's famous House on the Embankment is home to perhaps the smallest and least visited, yet significant, museum in Moscow.

Proud, imposing, grand, ugly, and large; the House on the Embankment holds an important place in Russia's more recent history. As average adult Russians might explain, this building became known as Moscow's version of the Titanic, sending many a Soviet party leader to the Gulag or firing squad during the reign of terror of the madman, Joseph Stalin.

(The House on the Embankment was designed to be self-sufficient. It boasted a library, a gym, restaurant, a kindergarten and a theatre/concert hall called the House of Culture.)


Architect Boris Iofan was born in Odessa and after studying art in Italy, Iofan returned to Russia and The House on the Embankment was his first major work. He entered into a competition and was chosen by Stalin to lead a group of architects in building the grand Palace of Soviets, thankfully a palace that would never be constructed. Moscow's main Cathedral today was dynamited to make room on Stalin's chosen spot for the palace, but war and then later financing issues kept the project from being built. Today the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, rebuilt with donations from the Russian people, again stands on the same spot.

Across from the Kremlin along the Moscow River at 5 Ulitsa Serafimovicha, older Muscovites think of it as the building that had walls with ears, recalling late night arrests and Communist Party leaders who disappeared without warning. It is mammoth and imposing, and with its location across the river from the Kremlin, it is a symbol of Stalinist repression. Perhaps it is fitting that people think of Stalin's terror just at the mere passing along the Moscow River.


(To the left of Moscow's famous House on the Embankment is a view of the Kremlin palaces. To the right are some of Moscow's most beautiful churches.)


Iofan constructed his House on the Embankment between 1928 and 1931 and during that time experienced a number of set backs including a fire that destroyed the first block. The complex finally opened with 505 apartment homes in April 1931. It quickly became home to the highest-ranking members of the Communist Party. Famous tenants included Stalin's daughter, Svetlana Alliluyeva, the KGB's Lavrenti Beria, Red Army Marshal Georgi Zhukov, Nikita Khrushchev,  Alexei Kosygin, and Aleksandr Aleksandrov, the man who wrote Soviet national anthem.

The complex was intended to be a city within a city, containing a post office, a telegraph office, a bank, a laundry, a supermarket, a beauty salon, restaurants, a school, a medical center and retail shops.

Despite the prestige and luxury of life at the House on the Embankment, it was a common nightly routine for KGB cars to pull up and escort a disgraced Party member, victim to Stalin's repressions, hurried out into the night, either to be shot or to be shipped off to the Gulag system.


Oddly, it is family members of those almost forgotten victims who keep the memory of what happened alive. The house lost its appeal after the war. Under the leadership of Nikita Khrushchev and later Leonid Brezhnev, Moscow's Kutuzovsky Prospekt became the place to live for Russia's elite.

(Mammoth in size, over the years facilities for dry cleaning, cosmetic shops, food market and a large movie theater were installed.)


Today the House on the Embankment is considered to be prestigious once again and while still large and imposing, the place is no longer terrifying. Located in the first entryway, today there is a small museum open on Wednesdays from 5 to 8 p.m. and on Saturdays from 2 to 5 p.m. The hours are sparse but we promise that you'll enjoy the visit. The museum is hosted by Olga Trifonova and she is a longtime resident and widow of Yury Trifonov, who wrote the best-selling book, "House on the Embankment."

The museum has a website at http://museumdom.narod.ru/ and the telephone number in Moscow is (495) 959-49-36. Give it a visit because you won't be disappointed.

(The small museum includes a replica of an apartment with an original bed designed by the building's architect, as well as furniture and items donated by the families of former residents.)


At the time of completion the 12-storey building with 505 apartments was the biggest house in Europe.


Note on photos: Click once to expand to medium, click again for a much larger view. All photos by Mendeleyev.
« Last Edit: November 01, 2011, 07:36:07 PM by mendeleyev »
The Mendeleyev Journal. http://mendeleyevjournal.com Member: Congress of Russian Journalists; ЖУРНАЛИСТЫ.RU (Journalist-Russia); ЖУРНАЛИСТЫ.UA (Journalist-Ukraine); ЖУРНАЛИСТЫ.KZ (Journalist-Kazakhstan); ПОРТАЛ ЖУРНАЛИСТОВ (Portal of RU-UA Journalists); Просто Журналисты ("Just Journalists").

 

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