Behold the панельный дом (panel building)! You’ve probably seen this kind of prefabricated construction a hundred times. These massive buildings are cheap and quick to build… so they’re everywhere. Everywhere! I can’t say they’re the most awesome living spaces ever, … Read More
Welcome back to another edition of the Street Russian Project! The past few months I haven’t done much “Street Russian-ing” at all… just trips to the grocery store and clinic… but even with such limited outdoor time, I spotted these public … Read More
A summertime walk through the city… Every big Russian city is divided up into районы (districts) and from the very beginning, my heart was set on exploring Тракторозаводской район, home to Chelyabinsk’s tractor factory. Most people just call the area … Read More
мозаика @ Южно-Уральский государственный технический колледж, Yuri Gagarin mosaic at South Ural Technical College Behold the «Завоевание космоса»…“The Conquest of Outer Space”! According to this interview, the mosaic was created in 1976 to commemorate the 15th anniversary of Gagarin’s spaceflight. … Read More
Winter in the Urals seems like a time to settle for bland food—potatoes, frozen veggies, the occasional imported orange—but nope, the city is actually bursting with dragonfruit, lychee, and locally-grown lettuce. This carries over into the restaurant scene. Meals come … Read More
We’re in the middle of winter #2 in Chelyabinsk. While there are plenty of foreigners here, it’s still a bit of an adventure to explore the city. Chelyabinsk is not as well-documented as other large Russian cities. This makes everything … Read More
Welcome to зимняя страна чудес, a winter wonderland. The skies dumped 15 centimeters of snow on us in two days. Here’s what the city looked like before the storm. ↓ On Saturday afternoon, we went out to meet a friend … Read More
One of the best Soviet architecture blogs out there – Concrete and Kitsch – is currently exploring Belarus. (Check it out!) I’m excited to see what interesting places they photograph during the trip. 🙂 Every time I see a time-worn … Read More
I think this is what foreigners are supposed to do in Russia, right? Wander around the outside of churches and take photos? It seems I failed at that task, though… these are all the photos I have to share with … Read More
I just finished reading an interesting article called A bear splitting an atom? A camel? The weird world of Russian coats of arms. Out of the five cities featured in that article, Chelyabinsk has perhaps the most straightforward symbol, left … Read More