Time.

This is now my 3rd winter in Russia (I have stayed much longer than I originally planned), yet I still get excited as ever when heavy snow starts to fall and cover the city in a glistening blanket of white, transforming it into a magical wonderland before your eyes. I still look on in astonishment as hoards of workers in head-to-toe bright orange arctic gear appear as if from nowhere within minutes, like ants after a storm, snow shovels in hand - they have been waiting and this is their moment. I feel like a child as a I get a kick from hearing the roar of the 20-long line of industrial-sized snow ploughs, tearing through the main roads of central Moscow leaving a wall of snow in their wake, and as they pass I look on with a huge grin on my face. Within days, courtyards, pavements and roads are cleared, huge piles of snow on street corners are loaded into dump trucks and taken out of sight, and life in Moscow ploughs steadily on without even batting an eyelid.

A couple days later, white snow clouds lighten the night sky and you know you're in for a treat.

Although, that's not to say that I'm a big fan of cold climates. I once again took advantage of having January off to get as far south as my bank account would allow and I ended up spending a couple weeks in Italy. Five years after I first fell in love, my heart is never far from the wonderful country. I had only been to Rome twice before for short, touristy trips and I was intrigued to see how "living" there would compare with Bologna. Admittedly, after so much time in Russia, it took me a few days to adjust to the pace of life - very relaxed - and to afternoon closing times between lunch and dinner. When expressing my surprise that a local store that had clearly said "open all hours" was closed when I stopped by in the evening, my friend explained that that simply meant it was open during napping hours in the afternoon... I soon had the main stops on the two metro lines memorised and I learnt to not trust "arrival times" at metro stations or bus stops - Italian minutes seem to have a funny way of being able to last anything between 50 and 150 seconds.

Joking aside, I was reminded of two important messages I had long forgotten since moving away. Family and Time.

The people I met working at the recording studio next door to where I was practising every day were shocked to hear I was planning to come in on Sundays. "What about family day?" they asked. "You shouldn't be practising on a Sunday...it's a day of rest and for spending time at home with your family." With a family that travels and works constantly and living in a city that never sleeps and where working days can easily be 12 hours long, I had to take a minute to let it sink in and then quickly try to explain myself... "in Russia, blah blah blah". Not surprisingly, my explanations were met with looks of amusement and disbelief.

A common and popular conversation topic between people from different countries is often stereotypes. During the first of a few magical al fresco lunches in the magnificent Roman winter sun I was treated to while I was there, this topic came up and I was asked if it was generally assumed that Italians never do any work. A smile in response answered the question for them, but I was quick to add, that with weather and food like they have, who's to blame them? Later that afternoon, I took a quick break from playing and walked into the next room to find everyone (six or so men) standing around chatting without a care in the world - I did a coffee round and joined in, trying to catch on to their Roman lingo. As one of the them was about to leave, I joked as kindly as possible: "and they say that Italians never do any work..". Putting his helmet on, he smiled, looked me in the eyes and said, "I don't live to work, I work to live."

The general concept of Time is that we have lots of it, but it is also precious and every minute should be enjoyed. Whether that be having an espresso with friends, relaxed lunch breaks in the winter sun, making that effort to pick some fresh chilli's from the garden for lunch, taking that detour to stop by the best place for pistachio croissants, working half-days to spend time with your family or taking time out of your busy teaching day to introduce a newcomer to fellows colleagues and musicians, it is about really respecting the time we are given. When I tell people my age at academy in Moscow, they frown and and give me a look of concern, commenting that I'm quite late on in the game and instilling in me a great sense of urgency to press on. In Italy, people smile with hope and anticipation, telling me how I'm young and I have so much time ahead of me. This concept of using every moment, relishing it and appreciating it whether it be work- or play-related is a message I was grateful to have been reminded of.

Back in Russia, I am more appreciative than ever of reliable public transport and 24h shops, however, I'm also doing what I can to keep those pieces of Italy with me.

(This may or may not include cooking pasta on an almost daily basis and constantly bugging my friends to send me pistachio croissants* and gelato).

More frequents posts to come from now on (I promise)...and a website and some music in the making.

Ciao for now,

A-M xxx 


*though croissants are technically french, a 'cornetto' is Italian and a 'cornetto a pistachio' even more so. 

This ceiling fresco in Villa Borghese took my breath away (and get me sever neck pain) and I haven't stopped thinking about it since.

The best lunch 5€ will buy you - a regional 'mini-pizza' called a pinsa. 

0 km farm produce at your service.

Start your day the right way.

River and canal walking in St. P - the perks of cold winters. 

Buckets and buckets of vodka.

My mum called me today.

"Hello?"
"It's winter."

I mean...if you're own mother doesn't call you to tell you that winter has arrived then who will?

Yes. October has only just started and snow is predicted for tomorrow because I'm in St. Petersburg. And I've got nothing but long, cold dark nights and days ahead of me. So 'A Russian Abroad' has finally arrived to Russia - I guess it's technically just 'A Russian' for now.

I have been here for a grand total of ten days - though it feels like much longer - and I'm slowly adjusting to the way of life. I maybe naïvely thought it would be easier this time, having done it twice before (in Italy and France), but I hugely underestimated the base of linguistic knowledge I had with those countries and the much smaller size of the cities I had moved to.

With a population of over 5 million people, the city is a lot bigger and also more grand and majestic then I expected. The few descriptions I read online prior to my arrival painted it out to be a sweet, quaint, architecturally-beautiful Paris of North-Eastern Europe but it feels much more rich and substantial than that description implies. Within the first hour of arriving, I was driven around on a quick tour of the main attractions and landmarks in St. Petersburg as well as being shown my mum's primary school and the outside of the apartment where she lived as a child during the Soviet Union. It is a part of my family history that had always seemed very distant so finally being able to come and see it for myself connected a thread that I hadn't realised was loose.

The first 24 hours in 'Piter' (as the locals call it) included seeing an opera at the renowned Mariinsky Theatre - a friend of a friend having offered us tickets 15 mins before the show started - and going to a film set to see director Алексей Учитель (Alexei Uchitel) filming a scene for his new film of the incarnation of Tsar Nikolas II on a set which was the most incredible replica of the 'Dormition Cathedral' in the Kremlin in Moscow. (They weren't allowed to film in the church itself). At some point I found myself helping dress the well-known actress Nastassja Kinski (though admittedly I hadn't heard of her...maybe it's a generation thing) in her costume, having run around the warehouse twice trying to figure out which entrance she was coming into. Her costume was the most spectacular creation of Nadya Vassilieva who had also designed and produced exact replicas of military and traditional dress for the actors and extras to wear during the filming. My phone told me it was 2015 and yet I found myself in 1894. The evening also included a reception for potential distributers where guests were greeted with people in military uniforms ladling vodka from silver buckets into guests' beckoning glasses. Snacks were served before going to see the filming and on returning for dinner, the tables had been covered in 50ml shot glasses full of vodka in case we hadn't had enough before and needed help getting through dinner. Hello Russia.

In the first few days I rather surprisingly found myself often making comparisons with my experience in China last summer. I had the same feeling of an eastern, previously-communist society (I know China is technically still communist but the inequality and capitalism present there suggests otherwise) developing and expanding on a big scale to match a high population with huge western influences. Big shopping malls similar in style to those I saw in China highlighting western products with considerably higher price tags. However, over the last few days I have realised that the blatant inequality stemming from a surge of "new" money was much more noticeable in China then it is here - although I have heard that it is a different story in Moscow.

And so summer is well and truly over. I'm juggling two hours of Russian lessons a day as well as lessons at the St. Petersburg Music Conservatory - basically trying to make sense of the ramblings and passionate outbursts of my piano teacher, Ekaterina Murina, who has been teaching at the conservatory since 1964 (!!) and is very very "Russian".

For now though, unfortunately my Russian homework really won't wait any longer...more in my next post I promise - if I can sustain a conversation in Russian for more than 60 seconds you will be the first to know.

До скорого,

xxx

Panorama of Mariinsky Theatre

Opera no. 1

Welcome.

When in Russia...

The dress.

The director speaking to distributors. 

The set

Mariinksy before opera no. 2

The Chocolate Festival comes to Bologna.

Last week the inhabitants of Bologna were treated to five days of a chocolate festival which took over the three main piazze in the centre of the city. I had the best white hot chocolate I have ever tasted and indulged in crystalised fruit covered in chocolate, chocolate coccoretti (which I had never had before but were absolutely DELICIOUS - and on which the sign said 'eat 2 and lose a pound' - I highly doubt it!) and many, many free samples of the different types of chocolate on offer. Chocolate in the shape of tools was a big theme - slightly random I thought - along with shoes and musical instruments.

Two friends who are working in Florence for their Erasmus came to visit for the weekend for the chocolate festival and with one I took a trip outside of the city to Cesena as some of her family live out there in the country. It was a wonderful opportunity to explore a part of a Italy that is just as beautiful but isn't a major tourist attraction. We were treated to a lovely typical italian lunch (at her relative's) with pasta as the first course and meat and salad as the second followed by coffee. Then, we went to explore Cesena and had a walk around the Piazza del Popolo, past the Biblioteca Malatestiana (the first public library in Europe) and the Malatestian Fortress. Having done that we decided to go to Forli - Cesena isn't the most happening place - and I was interested to see what all the fuss was about when people complained about being placed in Forli (for Erasmus) instead of Bologna! The first thing that struck me walking into the centre was that I felt like I was on a film set. I later found out Mussolini was born in the province of Forli and, during his rise to power, fascists went to the province and gathered there and certain architecture was rebuilt to reflect the new regime. The town feels very modern, orderly, square and slightly cold - and honestly like it had just been built for a new film in a big warehouse. Very strange but also fascinating to look around a city which is so close to Bologna yet feels worlds apart.

Another small, slightly disheartening observation is that though my language is definitely improving - it seems that the Italian language is just a very difficult language to learn with many small, fiddly grammar rules in addition to the range of dialects, all of which seem to seep into 'standard Italian.' During lunch in Cesena, I witnessed one of the family correct his younger sister saying 'nella spiaggia' (on the beach) instead of 'in spiaggia.' I felt better to see that even a native makes such grammar mistakes!

I went to see another film this week; another french one, however, this time dubbed in italian called Giovane e Bella (Jeune et Jolie). I loved it and it was another one which had been shown at Cannes this year. I'm also lucky in that there is a cinema twenty seconds away from my flat so I braved the rain (for which the majority of italians normally will cancel their plans) and enjoyed another wonderful french film.

It has been quite a food orientated couple of weeks. Ivana (one of the friends who came from Florence) and I went to a little 'pop-up' type specialist tortellini place - tortellini is a specialist food from Bologna - and we had the tortellini in brodo which was absolutely delicious and so so simple to make I will definitely be copying it at home. It was chilly and rainy and we were sat in Piazza Maggiore with warm pots of the tortellini looking onto the tents of the chocolate festival which would supply us with desert! Last week I also went to the Osteria dell'Orsa which is one of the most well-know typically bolognese osteria's in the city. Bologna has osteria's and trattoria's and traditionally you could only buy drinks in an osteria and you would bring your own food, and the trattoria would sell food and drink. Nowadays, however, there is only one 'original' osteria left where this tradition still stands. The Osteria dell'Orsa is less expensive and so very popular with students. I trusted the six italians I was with to choose my meal for me as I didn't recognise a few of the dishes and they did well as the food was delicious. We had crostini  and beef straccetti which was yummy but very filling - and I had also eaten a big margherita for lunch so I was completely full. When in Italy though....might as well eat like an italian. (Bologna also offers a good range of all-you-can-eat sushi restaurants and I could honestly live on sushi so I may have been twice in the last couple weeks... )

Other than that...the days are getting colder, the christmas market on strada maggiore is now open and people are starting to study for the odd exam in december. I start my 12 hours a week (in two 6 hour sessions) of conservatory classes on friday, I had a concert last week and have spent today learning a very difficult part for a concert next tuesday! Busy as always!

Un grande bacio xxxx

chocolate objects - cool but not practical

Italian countryside just outside Cesena

Piazza del Popolo

Piazza Aurelio Saffi - Forli

Piazza from a different angle

la Basilica di San Mercuriale