minats_zone

Hey there, We are very happy these days as Olia's been visiting us since August 26. She's living in her own room and probably feels a bit nostalgic about her room, which' frankly speaking, hasn't dramatically changed. The weather is really very good and we've already been to dacha and other places in Moscow. I'll try to post more photos about her stay later on. Now I'm posting only some shots of Olia and Dad made with my iPhone in Moscow street cafe and Musical Theater where we really enjoyed the 'Flying Bat' by Shtraus. Love and hugs from all of us...

Now we are back from Bulgaria. It was a really amazing holiday there. We had been in three cities - Nessebar, Sozopol and Stara Zagora. Nessebar and Sozopol are on the Black Sea shore, whereas Stara Zagora is just on the Hot Mineral Springs in the mountains. There we stayed at the hotel having a Spa with mineral water in the swimming pool. We were guided by Stanislaw's colleagues - Tencho and Incha Androv. They are very kind and warm family with two boys. Generally, Bulgaria gave the impression of a very welcoming Slavic country, which managed to keep it for its citizens and other friendly to Bulgaria Slavic people. It's really noticeable in Bulgaria, unlike Moscow, where we sometimes feel as if we were in Caucuses or Tajikistan. Many Russians buy apartments on the seashore in Bulgaria and I think it makes good sense. Moscow met us with rain and grey weather but 'there is no place like home' and we are happy to be back...Very good news is that Olia is

Hey there, Here we are in Nesebar, Bulgaria. Hotel's name is Sol Hotels Mare. We first satyed at Elenia 20km from here but we managed only 2 days there as it was overcrowded and full of noise and fuss. Thanks God, Tencho, Stanislaw's friend, helped us to move to this hotel, which is much, much better and the place is very nice, near the old city of Nesebar. It is the oldest Christian settlement in Bulgaria full of churches and twisted, narrow streets with tiny shops and restaurants. Today (it's the fifth day of our stay in Bulgaria) is very cold - 18C only and we are inside the hotel without much to do. They ptomise better weather tomorrow so we must be patient...Have a look at some pics we made there. Love and hugs from us to all of you...

Hey there, Yesterday we went to Yaroslavl and back within one day. It was not an easy drive as the road (highway) is still at times only one lane of bumpy drive but Thanks God not all the way through. Kostya was driving and Marina and me - passengers. We did all the business about money at the Sberbank, they looked at the 'Doverennost' issued on my name in NY city at Russian Council and wanted to check its legitimacy but then decided to trust it. Not easy...Marina and I were happy as otherwise we had to come again later. Kaleria Ivanovna did not answer the phone. Hopefully she is at her dacha. These days we had Olia's birhday on July 31, but it was an awful news on that day on all Russian news channels that a jet boat with 17 people overturned on the Moscow river just at 1am on July 31st and 7 people drowned. The boat got shipwrecked and sunk. Among those who drowned there was Olia's best friend Oleg who was going to SF this year to celebrate his 40th anniversary. He w