Inside the famous Gum Department Store in Red Square, Moscow, Russia. Even during the worst economic times in Russia, goods could still be found in the store, as long as customers could afford to pay.
On any other day, I would have passed by the spartan, crumbling building without a glance. On this day, however, Viking River Cruises had invited me to visit a Kommunalka, a communal living arrangement that is still practiced by a large percentage of residents in St. Petersburg, Russia. Across the interior courtyard, a heavy metal … Read more
The Belozersky Monastery near the small village of Kirillov, Russia, is one of the few that was not destroyed under Communism
Smolny Cathedral and Convent was built to house Elizabeth, the daughter of Peter the Great, after she was banned from succession to the throne. The Baroque cathedral was named Smolny – ‘tar’ in Russian – for the tar pits that once occupied the site where it now stands.
Antonio Canova’s sculpture “The Three Graces” in the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, depicts the three daughters of Zeus, who represent beauty, charm and joy
