Russian Federation Travel Guide
6/20/2008 at 2:00 PM
Tags: Russia Travel, Spas, Art, Public Art, Statues, Weird (all tags)
Here's a tip: When you find yourself assuring reporters that the $42,000 bronze monument you've put on display involves "no kitsch or obscenity," your art project was probably a bad idea. The statue in question is a tribute to the enema that was unveiled at a spa in the Russian city of Zheleznovodsk on Wednesday. The Botticelli-inspired monument depicts three cherubic little angles holding aloft a bronze syringe bulb that's used for anal cleansing.
The sculpture was presented to the public this weekend at a celebration featuring models and a banner bearing the charming Soviet slogan "Let's beat constipation and sloppiness with enemas." The owner of the spa said enemas are "almost a symbol" of the Caucasus, dotted as the region is with retreats offering visitors the opportunity to get local mineral water sprayed up their ass. (Hey, Zheleznovodsk does mean "Iron Waters.")
Maybe when the spa gang realizes how ridiculous this makes them look they can change that butt bulb into an onion?
Related Stories:
· Russian Spa Opens Monument to the Enema [AP, via Yahoo]
· Spas coverage [Jaunted]
· Russia Travel coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: Reuters]
by Hunter Walker
6/19/2008 at 9:20 AM
Tags: Russia Travel, Accidents (all tags)
A house in the suburbs of Moscow was hit with a nearly sixty pound bag of cement after the Russian Air Force dropped it in an attempt to control the weather. The house-bombing accident occurred while planes were trying to secure good weather in advance of Russia Day celebrations on June 12.
No one was injured by the falling concrete, but the house was badly damaged. Russian Air Force officials told Reuters:
A pack of cement used in creating ... good weather in the capital region ... failed to pulverize completely at high altitude and fell on the roof of a house, making a hole about 80-100 cm (2.5-3 ft)
The accident was apparently the first mishap in over twenty years of Russian weather control activities.
Related Stories:
· In Russia, Sometimes It Rains Cement [Reuters]
· Moscow Travel coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: IMDb]
by Hunter Walker
6/17/2008 at 9:00 AM
Tags: Celeb Travel, Amy Winehouse, Roman Abramovich (all tags)
Amy Winehouse said yes, yes, yes to a private gig at a new gallery in Russia this weekend. The "Rehab" singer was paid a reported $2 million to sing at the opening of the Center for Contemporary Culture, a new art museum in Moscow operated by the wife of entrepreneur and football team owner Roman Abramovich.
In its past life the CCC was actually a bus garage designed by famous Russian architect Konstantin Melnikov, before Daria Zhukova saw its potential as a loftlike gallery space.
We bet Amy's powerful pipes rang out from there to Odessa--unfortunately, after the singer's return to London she ended up making an unscheduled trip to the hospital amid rumors of a collapse.
Related Stories:
· Russian Capital Gets New Gallery in Melnikov Bus Depot [The Art Newspaper]
· Amy Winehouse Was "Very Happy" at Gallery Performance [ICYDK]
· Celeb Travel coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: The Superficial]
by egw
5/21/2008 at 8:45 AM
Tags: Airplanes, Superjet, Russia Travel, Airlines (all tags)
Russia's new plane, the Sukhoi Superjet, may be running behind schedule, but apparently it does actually fly. The manufacturers arranged the first test flight earlier this week in secret. The CEO said it was all hush-hush because:
The Superjet is our child, and its birth is sacred. A pregnant woman would never invite the press and guests to watch how she delivers her child.
Others suspect the company was afraid something would go wrong. The 75-95 seat planes are being produced to replace the Tu-134s used by some Russian airlines, since they're so noisy they've been banned from EU countries.
Aeroflot already has its hand up for the first Superjet, which now looks like it'll enter service in early 2009, at a cost of $29.9 million. That's one hell of an expensive child.
Related Stories:
· Superjet Makes First Flight in Secret [Moscow Times]
· Airplanes coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: Jerome K]
by amandak
3/24/2008 at 9:15 AM
Tags: Cruises, Russia Travel, Scary (all tags)
Man, are we ever scared of the Russian Far East. We cower in fear when we fly over the Bering Sea on our trans-Pacific flights. Apparently it's not all nuclear waste and oil-soaked deep sea creatures over there, though, because Russia's Right Coast is just on fire for the 2008 summer season!
Strangely, we mourned for a second or two when adventure cruisers Quark Expeditions canceled their 2007 trip to the Russian Far East. Yes, we were morbidly ogling the itinerary. But picking up where Quark left off, Abercrombie & Kent has added a July sailing of its Clipper Odyssey ship from Alaska to the Russian abyss and back (if you're lucky).
And for the cruise-averse, Vladivostok Air will launch non-stop flights from Anchorage, AK, to Petropavlovsk, Russia, also in July. Scheduled passenger service between Alaska and Russia has previously been offered by Alaska Airlines and the mysterious Magadan Air.
Related Stories:
· Russian Far East and Kamchatka [A&K]
· Direct flights to Russian Far East offered this summer [The Arctic Sounder]
[Photo: leolo2u]
by djk
3/07/2008 at 10:00 AM
Tags: Russia Travel, Architecture (all tags)
Does the beautiful Russian city of St Petersburg need an incredibly tall tower? We don't think so--its skyline is beautiful as is--but gas giant Gazprom thinks otherwise. They're responsible for the new Okhta Tower.
The building, part of the Okhta Center, will stand taller than the Empire State Building at about 1,300 feet and 77 stories, and with St Petersburg's otherwise low-level skyline, it will truly stick out like a sore thumb. The design isn't bad--sleek and shiny--but seems better suited to Dubai than the Russian Paris.
If there's a good side to the Okhta Tower, it's that the building will be "the most environmentally sustainable tower in the world." A special construction of two double-glazed layers should mean it consumes half the energy of a normal building that size.
We've got an even better idea. Build a much, much smaller building, and the energy consumption will be even lower--and St Petersburg won't be spoiled before our next trip there.
Related Stories:
· St Petersburg to Welcome Europe's Tallest Tower [Gadling]
· A Shard on the Skyline [Guardian]
· St Petersburg Coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: e-architect]
by amandak
1/31/2008 at 1:00 PM
Tags: Richard Branson, Virgin Russia, Airlines (all tags)
Good Lord, Branson! Why don't you just announce that you're starting an airline in every country on Earth and be done with it? We know it'd be an awesome press conference.
The latest idea from the serial airline starter is indeed Virgin Russia. Branson is in talks, he says, with two or three investors, and he's contacted Russian LCC Sky Express about doing some kind of a deal. Of course, this would be his second Asian airline if all goes well; he announced a bid for India early last week.
Still, announcing plans and actually going wheels up are two very different things. The Russian Transportation Ministry--who you'd think should know about this stuff--says it hasn't yet heard anything about Branson's plans.
Related Stories:
· Billionaire Branson Plans to Enter Russia [Bloomberg]
· Richard Branson's Indian Dream [Jaunted]
· Space Travel: Virgin Galactic Unveils Space Ship Two [Jaunted]
[Photo: Wikipedia]
by pbb
1/21/2008 at 9:45 AM
Tags: Russia Travel, Crime, Bridges (all tags)
We thought it was weird enough when a bunch of thieves stole a beach in Hungary last month. But head a bit further east and the criminals in Russia are even more heavyweight: They steal bridges.
The deal is that a gang of thieves in Khabarovsk worked through the night to dismantle and take away the 38-foot-long car bridge. This netted them about 200 tons of scrap metal which police figure they're planning to sell. To thwart a repeat offense, they're going to replace the bridge with a concrete version.
But imagine the surprise of locals last week when they drove along the road and got to the spot where the bridge had been just the day before. It was en route to a power station and it's unlikely that any tourists got caught out by the inconvenience of the sudden lack of a bridge, but it's food for thought. Any scrap metal enthusiasts out there want to try dismantling the Golden Gate or the Sydney Harbour Bridge without anyone noticing?
Related Stories:
· Car Bridge Stolen in Russia's Far East [Novosti]
· HOWTO: Steal A Beach [Jaunted]
· Russia Travel coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: Leonid V. Kroujkov]
by amandak
