Russian.Vot.Tak

On the day of Epiphany we commemorate the baptism of Jesus Christ in the River Jordan, which occurred on January 19 according to the Julian calendar.
This beautiful icon is of mid-15th century, painted near Moscow.
On this day, thousands of Russians take a dip in frozen rivers, lakes or ponds. Orthodox Christians believe this ice-cold water is holy for the day.🙏 Despite being Orthodox, we aren't bathing in it today ourselves as it is not actually necessary, plus, it's logistically difficult without a car. Maybe one day...) At the same time, it is more like a tradition now and often people who are really far from religion do it just for fun. This holiday is traditionally linked to the time of the strongest winter frosts, called "Epiphany frosts". Although you'd rather call the current weather in Central Russia - Epiphany spring, with its +3. 🙈

Anyway. Congratulations to all Orthodox Christians! 😊

Optina Monastery and our addiction to small autumn trips in Russia

This place used to be a spiritual retreat for many great Russians, among whom are Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Gogol, Turgenev, Chaikovsky and many many others.

The monastery was visited by Dostoevsky in 1878 when he lost his son Alesha. During 3 days he sought consolation from the venerable starets Amvrosii (Ambrose), known for his compassion and penetrating intelligence. Dostoevsky subsequently conveyed these qualities in the figure of Father Zosima, the starets who appears in The Brothers Karamazov.

Anna Dostoevskaya noted that her husband returned from Optina Pustyn a different person, at peace and no longer crushed by grief.

Would there be the genius The Brothers Karamazov without this trip? Don't think so.

Autumn is made especially for this place and for this author.

(Russia Beyond)

And the last one about the trains in Russia for this year!

There are suburban trains and long-distance trains here in Russia. And these long-distance trains can be
1) cheap platzkarte pictures 1, 2,
2) more expensive coupé, picture 3-4
3) sv, pure luxury, picture

Here are some lifehacks for how to seem natural in a platzkarte train car.

👉Take some sunflower seeds with you.
👉Grow legs as long as possible, so that everybody will need to somehow get their heads under them when passing.
👉Take some crosswords and wordsearches with you, no books needed!
👉Buy Doshirak, the cheapest Russian noodles. Join the ongoing chorus and slurp them as loud as you can.
👉Talk to strangers without hesitation, Don't be shy! Tell them everything about your own life, the lives of your pets, friends, parents and remote uncles: where they work, how much money they earn. The further you go, the more money-related conversations you can expect to have.
👉Also, prepare yourself for listening to the same stories, sometimes resembling '100 Years of Solitude'....and not escapeable without some difficulty.
👉Don't forget to have plenty of complaints about your government (or the Russian one) in stock.
👉 Switch off your critical thinking framework and be ready to listen to 'professional' historians, politicians, theologists and doctors on the train.
👉Take some vodka and just as everybody's dropping off late at night, make sure you drunkenly greet everyone by saying 'zdrastye' to them one by one (we were pleasantly greeted in this way ourselves😆).

Enjoy your journey!

Recently we were on the way from Moscow to Penza, so we wanted to talk about Russian trains. In fact, you can' t get the feeling of real Russia without traveling on a Russian train, chiefly in platzkarte.😉

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Before we write about cultural pecularities, here are some useful phrases!
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🎒Вот мой билет - Here's my ticket
🎒Я заказал(а) постельное бельё - I ordered bedding.
🎒Какая следующая длинная остановка? - When is the next long station stop (as you can get out then to stretch your legs).
🎒У меня верхняя или нижняя полка? - Am I on the top or the bottom bunk?
🎒Где здесь розетка? - Where is there a plug socket?.
🎒Простите, Вы заняли моё место - Excuse me, you're in my place.
🎒Закройте окно, пожалуйста, мне дует - Close the window, there's a draught.
🎒Простите, в туалете не работает кнопка смыва - Excuse me, the flush isn't working in the toilet.
🎒Хотите курицу/пирожки/яйца/огурчики? Нет, спасибо! - Do you want somw chicken/pies/egg/gherkins? No, thank you!
🎒А где вагон-ресторан? Так дорого? Спасибо, не нужно! - Where's the buffet car? That expensive? Thanks, I won't bother!
🎒Сколько стоит доширак? Можно купить чай? Можно взять кружку? - How much does Doshirak cost? Can I buy some tea? Can I get a mug?
🎒Простите, Вы можете потише, пожалуйста? я сплю! - Excuse me, can you be a bit quieter please? I'm trying to sleep!
🎒Какая сейчас станция? - Which station are we at?
🎒До свидания! - Goodbye!

There are suburban trains and long-distance trains here in Russia. And these long-distance trains can be 1) cheap platzkarte (picture 1, 2, 3) 2) more expensive coupé (picture 4) 3) sv, pure luxury, picture 5.

We've noticed a huge difference between the way people act in platzkarte and in Sapsan, although the difference in price nowadays is not that high. But whilst in platzkarte, people sometimes tend to reveal not the best of themselves, being vulgar and rude, on Sapsan you get the feeling that you live in the most cultural and polite country in the world! Why it is so, we can't explain.

Real Russian frost!
After the village we managed to visit the amazing town of Pereslavl and one of its six monasteries and nunneries; the Nikitskiy Monastery. Cats rule the roost here😺😺😺, and in fact seem to throughout the whole of Pereslavl. Кошкина улица there doesn’t seem to have been named on a whim! The monastery has existed since the early 11th century and carries its name in honour of Venerable Nicitas Stylites, renowned for, and in fact martyred because of, the chains he carried as part of his ascetic practices.
Any foreigner visiting would surely be struck by just how Russian this area is. And Russian in a good sense, as opposed to other areas out in the countryside surrounding Moscow, like Rublyovka’s vulgar, entirely Russian altar to captitalism, for instance.😩

Weekends (and months) fly by, but we finally managed to get away for our postponed anniversary weekend to the tiny village of Krasnogor near Pereslavl outside of Moscow.

We stayed in something in between a shed and a static caravan, done out very cosily with a stove and electricity ,but still a far cry from a centrally heated Moscow flat, separated from miles of hill and forest by nothing but a couple of inches of solid wood. That evening I actually enjoyed the баня (Russian sauna) for the first time😤. Must actually be getting used to it!
I found myself echoing Lena’s words, "просто как в сказке" (like in a farytale) after a nice walk through the glisteningly snow-bedecked village, totally silent and apart from us devoid of humans, with three welcoming local dogs for company.
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Despite the fact that Russia covers a huge expanse of land, the major socio-economic and cultural problem is the disproportion of population. Most people tend to move to big cities, (that’s why we say Moskva ne rezinovaya😨 — Moscow is bursting at the seams). _
There are stereotypes that there is no work, no money, no culture in the countryside and people who live there have nothing to do but drink. Unfortunately that’s often not far from the truth, but simultaneously, quite a few city dwellers are moving back to villages today. There are even foreigners who buy land in a ‘remote paradise’ and settle there. Our German hosts, for example🙄! We also think about it sometimes.
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Would you ever decide to move to a Russian village?😉

Yesterday was a ceremonious day for our family💑. A year ago we united our lives, for life before the government, and for eternity before the Lord.
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In Russia, there is a legal wedding ceremony that takes place in a registry office (a palace) and, for Orthodox Christians, the Venchaniye (or ‘Crowning Service’). That`s why we basically had a wedding lasted for 2 days!😎
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We want to share with you the pecularities of the second one. The Eastern Orthodox wedding ceremony is an ancient rite full of profound symbolism and meaning. Most rituals are performed three times to represent the Holy Trinity.
In the Mystery of Marriage the Church asks God to help the couple being married understand, fulfil and establish a 'church' at home.
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The couple exchange the rings, taking the bride's ring and placing it on the groom's finger and vice-versa. Their exchange signifies that in married life the weaknesses of the one partner will be compensated for by the strength of the other.
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The crowns 👑👑 symbolise the couple's citizenship in the Kingdom of God. The groom and the bride are crowned as the king and queen of their own little kingdom, the home - domestic church.The crowns used in the Orthodox wedding service refer to the crowns of martyrdom since every true marriage involves immeasurable self-sacrifice on both sides.
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The drinking of wine from the common cup serves to impress upon the couple that from that moment on they will share everything in life, joys as well as sorrows, and that they are to "bear one another's burdens." _
The priest then leads the bride and groom in a circle around the table on which are placed the Gospel and the Cross. The way is symbolized by the circle at the center of which are the Gospel and the Cross of our Lord.
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We still remember this ceremony as the most sacred and beautiful thing that has happened to us, transcending the realms of ordinary experience💜.

Happy Birthday, Ross!
С днем рождения!
In Russia there is a tradition to give something to other people (usually some food or sweets🍰) on your own Birthday. We can’t share with you any home-made pies, but can give you something warmer🌞.

The first 3 people to write us a message will be able to have free Russian or Church Slavonic lessons.
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By the way: an interesting observation. Looks like in Russia, people tend to congratulate you on your birthday more warmly, with more words and wishes (instead of just saying Happy Birthday).🤗

Here in Russia everybody knows that November the 4th is an important day, as we have a day off (such a joy for the onerous autumn), but it is far from everyone that remembers what this national holiday means.
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The celebration is called Dyen’ narodnovo yedinstva (Unity Day) and commemorates the end of the Time of Troubles in Russia. The Rurik dynasty was demised in 1598 and then...the real troubles came 🔥 ! Polish and Swedish intervention, bad harvests, peasant uprisings, plus the attempts of pretendants to seize the throne and to betray the state. No patriarch, no tsar and a corrupt elite. Ufff, not the best time to live in, was it? 😰
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Obviously, the country was about to collapse, but...two brave guys from Nizhniy Novgorod basically saved it! They gathered a big army, full of totally different social groups, and altogether they managed to free Moscow from the Polish occupation forces in November 1612. Their names were Kuzma Minin and Dmitriy Pozharsky, and they are two of the most popular national heroes. You can see their monument on Red Square in Moscow.
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In 1613 tsar Mikhail Romanov instituted a holiday named The Day of Moscow’s Liberation from Polish Invaders. But that’s only half of the celebration. There is also a strong association with the Our Lady of Kazan icon. What about this legendary icon? Stay tuned 😉
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P.S. to make this post linguistically useful you can learn a word Смута - turmoil, unrest, disorder
_Смутное время = Time of Trouble
_ смутный (from мутный) = vague, hazy, also dim, misty
Смутный силуэт, смутный сон,
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помнить что-то очень смутно = to remember vaguely
Смутно на душе = тревожно, to feel uneasy
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Not the best word, after all, but quite common here and worth memorizing 📝