Polytechnical Museum

the Polytechnical Museum - Moscow, Russia

We had a wonderfully sunny and not too cold day here in Moscow about a week ago, so I took the opportunity to explore an area of the city I found while walking around in the bitter cold 1 month ago. This is just one small part of the massive Polytechnical Museum, built in 1872. I haven't been inside yet, but the website says that it has 65 halls of exhibitions! This will be something good to do on a rainy day.

Church of the Resurrection in Kadashi

Two years ago, I saw this church through the trees when I visited the Kremlin. I didn't know where it was, and I never managed to find it. Two weekends ago, while walking with my friends, I found it! It's even better up close than it is from afar. When I get a chance, I'll go back during the day and get some more pictures.

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Note to my readers: I still don't have internet in my apartment, so posts here won't be as regular as I'd like - but I do promise to not go another month between posts!

Спасская башня

Спасская башня (Spasskaya Tower), The Kremlin, Moscow

In just 5 days I'll be back in Moscow, looking at this clock tower with my very own eyes again!

The Spasskaya Tower overlooks Red Square. The red star on top was put there in 1935, as a traditional Soviet symbol. The tower itself was built in 1491. If you watch the New Years programs on Russian TV, this is the clock they show counting to midnight.

Prague

Prague is a beautiful city, filled with wonderful old buildings. The Prague Castle dominates the skyline, as shown in my picture below. I didn't take a tour of the castle itself, but instead spent hours wandering around the grounds. I'll be posting pictures of that in the next couple of days. If you look at the bottom left corner of this picture, you'll see the Charles Bridge... well, let's rephrase that - you'll see the mass of people on the Charles Bridge! The covered areas are where they're doing repair work, which was rather noisy and dusty. Needless to say, the bridge was not one of the highlights of my trip - but I did get some wonderful photos from it, so I can't complain too much! This photo isn't from the bridge itself, but from the Mala Strana tower at the end of it.

The Prague Castle and the area surrounding it, taken from the Mala Strana tower.

Long overdue update

I've been a terrible blogger, this poor blog has only had 2 posts for all of 2009. So to start things up again, I'll begin with some big news - I'm moving to Russia at the end of October! I'll be teaching English in Moscow.
Here's a taste of what I'll get to see every day...

Before I could apply for a teaching job, I needed to get a formal qualification. I decided on the CELTA, which is perhaps the most prestigious certificate in teaching English as a foreign language. I chose to take the CELTA course in Prague, Czech Republic. The course was a month long, and extremely intensive. Sadly, I only had four days for sightseeing while I was there, but I still managed to take around 800 pictures! I haven't finished reviewing all of them yet, but once I do, I'll be posting some of them here. This is just one of the wonderful buildings I saw. 

I promise to be a better blogger from here on out : ) Stay tuned for more updates!

I'm back - and actually in Europe!

I'm finally back to blogging - and now Reasons I Love Europe will be published from Europe! I'm in Prague, Czech Republic right now, taking a teacher training class. I'm planning to teach English as a Foreign language. I'm sitting at the coffee house (free wifi!) waiting to walk to class... I'm anxious for today - I just want to begin!

The first couple of days have been great. A few of us went exploring/photographing yesterday in central Prague. It's beautiful - so much to photograph, of course. Being a Sunday, it was rather crowded, so I'll have to go early in the morning to be able to get unobstructed shots of most buildings. That's okay, because the sun rises at like 4:30am here, so I'm pretty much up by 5:00 because it's so sunny.

I'll post pictures soon - I shot all of them in RAW, and I haven't had time to edit them yet. By tonight (my time) I'll have a few up!

The flat I'm staying in is pretty nice. Aparently we don't have hot water now - Prague does the same thing as Moscow in the summer - the hot water is periodically turned off throughout the city so that they can do maintenance work on the pipes. Cold showers it is!

I guess we're heading out soon, so that's all for now... I'll keep everyone posted!

Check out my travel blog too - nomadashira.blogspot.com

Happy 2009!

Happy 2009!
I couldn't decide which photo I wanted to start off 2009 with, so I picked three!

Vienna, Austria
This photo was taken from the big ferris wheel in Vienna, the Reisenrad. I love how there is so much variance in the rooflines - there are the old cathedrals and churches mixed in with the new highrise buildings. Vienna is my favorite city, and I hope that 2009 will take me back there. There is so much of the city that I have yet to explore!

Saint Basil's, Moscow
Ah, Moscow... this is my favorite city to photograph. The architecture everywhere is wonderful, and every street has something of interest on it. I can't wait to go back - I already have a very long list of places to see!

Innsbruck, Austria
Although I only spent a few hours in Innsbruck as I waited to catch a train back to Linz, it was enough time for this city to intice me to return! This picture features everything I love - mountains, old buildings, outdoor cafes, and pedestrian only streets. It sums up my summer of 2007 in one picture! Whenever I am able to return here, I will leave myself much more time!

Here's to hoping for many travels in 2009!

Fountain in Innsbruck

a fountain just past the train station in Innsbruck

There's something about fountains that I just adore... I can't really pinpoint it, but I'm always drawn to them! I love the dragons holding the shields and flags in this fountain. I also love how softly the water was flowing from the fountain, which you can really see when you enlarge the picture. 

Vienna

a street in Vienna, Austria

I was browsing through my photos of Austria, and this one caught my eye. I'm really missing Europe right now, and this made me smile, so I thought I would share it with you! I don't remember walking down this street, but I wish I had because I would have loved to have seen more of the building with the rounded corners! Oh well, there's always next time... :)

Государственный Исторический музей

State Historical Museum, Moscow Russia

The State Historical Museum (Государственный Исторический музей) is my second favorite building on Red Square. My favorite, of course, is St. Basil's. The museum was built between 1875-1881, and opened in 1894. While this building was not demolished during the Soviet regime, like the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour was, its beautiful interior was painted and plastered over. The building went through major restoration in the late 1990s,
and is now restored to its original state. The interior is as beautiful as the exterior.
What I love the most about the exterior is how it looks as if it's covered in snow -
even in August, when this photo was taken!

Olympia Eissport Zentrum

Ice Skating Rink in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany

Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, hosted the 1936 Winter Olympics.
This rink is still used for skating and hockey events, and many future Olympic hopefuls train there as well. I think that the building fits so well into the beautiful mountain landscape with its weathered exterior. It must look fantastic when the mountains are covered in snow!

Кунцево

Kunstevo Train Station

Кунцево (Kuntsevo) is a train stop that I would pass on the way to my Metro station.
I love the building - it certainly stands out!

Храм Христа Спасителя

Храм Христа Спасителя, Moscow Russia

The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour was the first church I saw in Moscow.
It's huge, and beautiful! The original church was completed 1860, but unfortunately it didn't even stand to be 100 years old. Stalin had it demolished in 1931 so that he could build a monument honoring Communism. That was never built, but the site sat empty until it was turned into the world's largest swimming pool. Luckily, it was decided that a church was much more important than a swimming pool! This new church was completed in 2000.
The bridge I'm standing on while taking this picture is a new addition, and quite an excellent one, I might add! It allows for people to be able to take photos like this one :)

Think Pink! October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month!

Please take a minute to check out Pennies in Action
It only takes a penny to make a difference!

This charity supports research for more than just a cure -
we're supporting a program that is working to develop a vaccine to prevent breast cancer!

New York City

I know, I know - this isn't Europe! But I was sorting through all of the photos on my computer today and came across this one of New York City, and I like it so much that I decided to post it! I took this from my car (don't worry, traffic was terrible so I wasn't actually moving) and I love how it turned out slanted. Completely unintentional - but I think that sometimes accidental pictures turn out better than planned ones!

Gmunden

lovely houses on the shore of the Traunsee Lake

This picture was taken in Gmunden, Austria. We spent the day at the Traunsee Lake. It was beautiful there. The lake was surrounded by houses like these. My favorite house in this picture is the yellow one on the bottom left.

St. Basil's

looking up at St. Basil's Cathedral

I absolutely adore this church! This is taken from the side facing GUM, the huge shopping mall that spans almost one whole side of Red Square. I like this picture because it shows the differences in each tower. I also love how blue the sky was that day, and how the sun was shining so brightly. It highlighted the church beautifully!

West Chester, Pennsylvania

old firehouse in West Chester, Pennsylvania, USA

Here's a bonus shot from America! West Chester is a fun little town, lots of little shops and restaurants, and some interesting buildings too! This is the old firehouse, which has now been turned into a restaurant. Below is a picture of the door that caught my eye.

This is such a beautiful door!

Vienna from the Riesenrad

just a pretty view of Vienna :)

Vienna's Prater, in the 2nd district just outside of the city center, is a wonderful park.
We stopped to take a ride on the Riesenrad (ferris wheel). It's the one that was shown in the 1987 Bond movie The Living Daylights :)

The views from the wheel are simply amazing! The gondolas are quite spacious, and we were lucky to only share ours with 2 other people! I think I took 50 photos just from this one time around on the ferris wheel! This is a shot taken on our descent, about halfway, if I remember correctly. Click on the picture to make it larger so you can truly see the beauty of this scene!

Mountains

mountains in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany

Being nestled somewhere in the mountains is definitely my ideal vacation. The crisp, fresh mountain air, and the opportunity to take pictures like this is all I need !
I have yet to visit the mountains in the winter, and I would love to go back to Garmisch to re-take all of these pictures with the mountains covered in snow!