Posts In English

On April 1st I visited the State Memorial Museum of the Defence and Siege of Leningrad. The name on the outside of the building remains the outdated Музей Обороны Ленинграда (The Leningrad Defence Museum). It’s located at  Соляной переулок, 9, about a 15 minute walk from the school. Entrance is only 100 RUB for a Russian student, or 200 for a foreign adult, so put on a straight face and your best Russian accent and ask for “Один студент” (Adeen studyent).

The main part of the museum occupies the top floor, and there’s plenty there to while away an hour or two after classes. The descriptions of items are in Russian, but the best part of the museum has detailed summaries on eye-level plaques in English. The most interesting parts for me were the exhibition of Soviet propaganda relating to the war effort and the descriptions of how everyday life changed dramatically under siege conditions. There are countless fascinating artefacts from ration stamps to examples of the strange things Leningrad citizens would eat to prevent starvation (including belts and glue!). I came away with a greatly expanded knowledge and understanding of the hardships St Petersburg as we now know it has been through, and with a greater appreciation of the extent the citizens have gone to in order to protect the Northern Capital.

Lois Bentall is an English student, a current intern and studying Russian at Liden & Denz St. Petersburg.

Happy Maslenitsa!

Maslenitsa (or Pancake Week) is a Russian religious and folk festival that celebrates the end of the winter and the start of spring. It is a festival of hope and warmth. Its roots are in both Orthodox Christian and pagan traditions. In Orthodox tradition it is the week of preparation before the start of Great Lent, a time to eat all the cheese and dairy products forbidden during lent. The celebration culminates on Sunday in the burning of a straw effigy of Lady Maslenitsa.

The most traditional thing to eat during Maslentisa week is “bliny” – flat round pancakes. At Liden & Denz we will be celebrating by eating pancakes, drinking vodka and playing games this Friday at our schools in Moscow and  St Petersburg.

There will also be celebrations on Sunday 17th from 11.00 until 21.00 in Kirov Central Park of Culture and Recreation (Центральный парк культуры и отдыха имени С. М. Кирова), metro Krestovsky Ostrov. Moscow’s festivities will be held in Vasilievsky Spusk square. There wll be folk music performances, carnival rides, ice skating and more for those of you who are still hungry for blinis and culture.

Paulo Renato Souza Cunha is a Brazilian student currently studying Russian at Liden & Denz St. Petersburg. He has something extraordinary to share:

Fisherman on the Neva river

I just made my month in St. Petersburg. It is such a wonderful city, indeed. One of the best places in the world to make nice pictures and catch its people feelings. I’ve been taking photos since I arrived at Pulkovo, last April. And here’s the result of my quest: Photo albums of Paulo

That’s how I see (and would never forget about) this gorgeous town.

Paulo Renato Souza Cunha

Ich war zwei Wochen in St. Petersburg, als ich das erste Mal mit der Metro fuhr. Im Reiseführer habe ich gelesen, dass die Metro zum Teil in 100 Meter Tiefe liegt, und dass auf der Rolltreppe rechts stehen, links gehen gilt. Ich war denn auch sehr gespannt, ob dies klappt, da es die Russen mit den Vorschriften nicht immer so streng nehmen. Doch tatsächlich! Obwohl sich vor der Rolltreppe eine Menschentraube anstaute, standen dann alle rechts. Fast alle lassen sich von der Rolltreppe auf der drei-minütigen Fahrt nach unten bringen.
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