Rugby World Cup Final 2007

What a great game! Although England lost the game, this was amazing match.

Copenhagen

Straight from vacation in Riga (you can find a photo album here: http://picasaweb.google.com/alla.markh/RigaOctober2007), I was sent to a project (thanks god, just a short one) in Copenhagen (København).

Unfortunately, I didn't have enough time to explore the city (yeah... I had to work as well) and to go to a local Tuborg brewery, but you can find some photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/john.markh/20071011Copenhagen.

Enjoy, John.

P.S.: CZA (Czech Airlines) are the best!

Trip to Russia

Finally, back to reality…

I have just returned after ten days in Russia, after 17 years of absence. We (me, mom and sister) went to visit grandma, grandpa and uncle, who came from Moscow, in Urusu.

So first of all, couple of words about Urusu. It is a small village in Tatarstan, about 800km from Moscow, 600km from Kazan, the capital of Tatarstan, and the same distance from Samara, and about 300km from Ufa, the capital of neighbour Bashkiria. According to taxi driver, there are approximately 14,000 people live in Urusu. Get the picture?

To get there, I had to fly to Moscow, wait 12 hours for connection flight to Ufa, then 6 hours by train to nearby major city Oktabrsk and finally 20-30 minutes by bus which goes once in a while. Did I mention dogs ride and walking in the fields for about an hour? We cheated a bit and took taxi from Ufa directly to Urusu which cost us about £25 (more then average monthly salary in Russia).

Although people in Russia (at least in Urusu) are friendly and will try to help you (even when most of them doesn’t know a word in English), the border control was as unfriendly as it gets. My passport was examined by the officer for more then 30 minutes and I was body searched. Probably too many European and US (a.k.a. enemies) stamps in my passports…

Mom and sister been there couple of years ago, but I haven’t seen grandma and grandpa (and Urusu) for more then 17 years, since I was 8 or 9. The city undergo drastic change (more about it later), but the grandma and grandpa look the same. Grandma sees a bit worse and grandpa hears a bit less (OK, so he barely hears at all), but they are as active as I remember them. Everyday, they were awake much earlier that we were and worked with us in the fields as hard as all.

For a week that we have been there, we worked in the field from early morning till evening: rooting weed, preparing ground for winter, cleaning and paining pipes, cutting branches and trees, and about everything else need to be done before the winter. After working for more then 4-5 years in the office, this was a ‘nice’ change. At first, my body ached like hell, but after couple of days I enjoyed physical work, fresh air (something you don’t get in London) and plain but tasty country food which was potatoes (fried or boiled), fresh milk, dark (brown) bread and a lot of fresh vegetables (some of them straight from the field).

The city (still registered as village) celebrated 60 years just before we arrived, so many buildings were freshly pained and streets repaved and cleaned. There were many new shops opened during 17 years, but the biggest surprise was the amount of young people in there. I was expecting to have dying city on the outskirts of Russia, with mostly old and retired people, but it is alive and kicking. There are couple of coffee places, bowling and dance clubs, and… musk. Apparently, after fall of Soviet Union, Tatar people remembered that they are originally Muslims. But, although of progress and modernism of the city, there are still goats, chickens, dogs and ducks roaming the outskirts…

OK, I don’t work for “Lost Guide to Russia”, so enough of that. Check out the photo album at http://picasaweb.google.com/john.markh/20070930TripToRussia

Enjoy, John.

P.S.: You do understand that I would appreciate your comments, don’t you?

Weekend in Windsor

Once again we woke up early to headed to another beautiful, historic location in UK. This weekend destination: Windsor.

We already been there couple of months before, and Windsor landscapes and small streets featured in our art gallery on the wall (http://jmarkh.blogspot.com/2007/01/weekend-in-windsor.html). This time, we wanted to visit famous Windsor castle.

Windsor castle is the largest inhabited castle in the world (yes, yes... the queen still lives there) and is as often used for state banquets and official entertaining.

We are not allowed to take photos inside the castle, but the impressive gardens and fortification should be enough to imagine the majestic beauty of the state rooms inside. Check out the photo album at http://picasaweb.google.com/john.markh/20070916WindsorCastle.

Enjoy, John.

Another Month, Another Entry...

It has been a long, long time since I posted here.

During last weeks, I had to work form a dozen different locations for a dozen of different clients (I'm writing this from Birmingham). Needless to say, that during weekends I didn’t want to touch this dull metallic “thing” called laptop.

Couple of weeks ago I celebrated my 28th birthday (I’M MATURE, NOT OLD). My uncle and aunt from US came to London for couple of days and we all together went to Bath (it is ancient city in west of UK with a very impressive history, sights and nature around it) for a tour in Roman baths and spa in natural hot springs (present from Alyona).

A week after, Kremer were on tour in UK, so we went to check out their latest sound in club with very Jewish name: Fiddler’s Elbow. After the show, four big, blond Dutch guys stayed at our place. I have absolutely no idea how they fit in, in our living room, but they did. It was very nice to meet with Rob (guitar) again after more then 8 months and to hear him abusing his guitar. Too bad it was for one night only and… too bad he didn’t play with “Hello Kitty” guitar.

So guys, happy New Year to you all (What, did you know? It is Jewish New Year today!) and… hope to see you all soon.

Ciao, John.

Hmm… I did it again. I forgot to include the links to photo albums…

Here they are:

http://o2create.migapps.com/o2create/video/454041/hi

http://picasaweb.google.com/alla.markh/AllaBoryaInLondonPart1GreenwichPark

http://picasaweb.google.com/alla.markh/AllaBoryaInLondonPart2

http://picasaweb.google.com/alla.markh/JohnnySBirthdayPart1

http://picasaweb.google.com/alla.markh/JohnnySBirthdayPart2Bath

The "Baby" is Dead

I don't know if you read previous post, but the website I've been building is no longer relevant. It was killed by Microsoft (sort of).

Well, the story is like that... A day after I published my previous post I found out that Microsoft allow you to setup your own website and have your own domain for free. It also includes number of additional services such as email addresses with the same domain name, web site building and statistical tools, etc.

Without further delays (it is Saturday night and I want to go out) I want to present TalkRusianLanguage's new website: http://talkrussianlanguage.co.uk.

Another SUPER-MEGA-FANTASTIC-AMAZING news are that we have our passports back... with EEA1/EEA2 stamps! We are one step closer to become UK citizens...

Enjoy, John.

New "Baby" is Born

Good evening my dear readers,

It been so long since last time I had a chance to drop a few lines in here, but I'm back.

First of all (as you probably can see), I've switched back to Fedora and I have just one thing to say about it.... Love it!

Secondly, we have finally applied for "Registration Certificate" (EEA1/EEA2 applications). After waiting more then a month, we have discovered that it takes about 6 months to process the application with all our original document as well as passports are in HomeOffice. So basically, we are more or less stuck on this side of the river for a while. What do I have to say about it? ...Hate it!

During last couple of weeks, I've been deeply involved in our family project to produce a professional looking, service selling, high quality website for my wife (http://www.russianlanguage.homechoice.co.uk/). It is 99% ready, but you all are welcome to visit. Send your comments and personal/professional opinions to the webmaster (Anyway, I will end up reading it). For those who are slow to catch, this is the baby I have mentioned in the title...