easter coming

I keep forgetting about easter. My london friends are already plotting their easter breaks, whilst here we wait until the May holidays (from May 1st = Labour Day to May 9th =Victory Day) for time off.

Of course, this is not because people are not religious; to the extent that many restaurants and cafes provide lenten (orthodox fasting) alternatives at this time of year. It is just that easter sunday will come and go without much impact on the working week. Meanwhile,  the same kind of stuff you get everywhere- eggs, chocolate, bunnies - are in the shops.

Queueing for church

There was a quite a queue to get in Christ the Saviour, where I had hoped to sit in on an orthodox religious service, so I went to one of my favourite cafes (Academia) which is right next door, and instead had my favourite snack which is a perfectly formed Melange Parmigiana, with a fan of parmesan pieces.

More art and stuff

More exhibitions today - this time off to the Baibakov Art Project at the Red October Chocolate Factory (nearest metro Kropotkinskaya/кропоткинская) to see Luc Tuymans (Against the Day) and Olga Chernysheva (Present Past). Brilliant pair of well curated shows and fabulous work. Here the owner is an oligarch's daughter - only in her early 20s - but clearly a talent to watch.

Also a lot of other work on show throughout the string of buildings because the ex-factory is currently a major place for artists studios, galleries and impromptu shows. This is a relatively good, although potentially temporary, outcome following campaigns against the move of chocolate production to another site. Every one is worried that the location on the island right by the newly rebuilt Christ the Saviour cathedral makes it vulnerable to yet more commercial development.

Me, what I miss is the open-air swimming pool previously on the cathedral site which I remember from a visit 30 years ago. It was a massive lido, with sleek, high diving boards and water steaming in the freezing air; which was entered by swimming out from inside the changing rooms. This, in turn, was the result of a hole made for a planned Palace of the Soviets (never built and seeing the competition entries we should all be relieved) - a hole created by the destruction of the previous cathedral by Stalin in 1931.