Moscow Visitors

I feel so lucky to have had visitors during my three years in Moscow. There’s nothing better than showing people you love around your new town. I continue to explore Moscow and having visitors is an awesome excuse to get to all those places I’ve put off or haven’t seen in a while.

In March, my good friend Katie came for a visit. I’m sure her vacation destination was a bit of surprise to her fellow teachers but she made an amazing effort of it, traveling all the way from Minnesota on her spring break. A strong solo traveler, she took in Moscow while I worked and even trekked to St. Petersburg on her own. For those wondering, seeing both cities is definitely doable within a week.

A Moscow Metro rite of passage for good luck at Площадь Революции (Ploshchad Revolyutsii)

Highlights of Katie’s visit included a brunch at the Metropol Hotel, touring the Kremlin Armory, and a Georgian feast (see below).

Just a few weeks ago, I hosted my aunt Susan for her first ever visit to Russia. Suz is a wonderful person to travel with and we planned her visit over the Victory Day holidays to get in a little extra time together.

When I was living in Korea, Suz gamely hopped a plane and visited me in Seoul. We went to China together, putting in thousands of steps all over Beijing and Xian. There really is nothing like sharing an incredible trip with someone you love and I’m so thankful to have family who are up for it!

Suz and I on a canal in St. Petersburg

We hopped the SapSan fast train up to St. Petersburg for what’s become a bit of a May tradition for me. We traveled on Victory Day which brought a few road closures but no major issues. The coolest, most powerful sight upon arrival was the Parade of the Immortals, commemorating the over 27 million (MILLION) Soviet soldiers and citizens lost in the Great War (World War II). St. Petersburg itself (as Leningrad) was under siege for over 900 days, the horrendous losses reverberating through the crowd carrying photographs of their loved ones lost. This is not a nation that will ever forget.

The Parade of the Immortals. Participants themselves number in the millions.

The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood, St. Petersburg

Suz in the Winter Palace, Hermitage Museum

One of the highlights of our trip was seeing my first ballet at the Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg’s famed ballet stage. Only slightly smaller in size than the Bolshoi, the venue was stunningly gorgeous with supremely gifted dancers and magnificent stage sets. Made for the perfect birthday present – all thanks to my dad.

Catherine Palace, St. Petersburg

Another highlight from our St. Petersburg was a trip to Catherine Palace, a spot about 30 km outside of town. A summer palace for the tsars, the place is dripping in gold and excess. Each room is more stunning than the last – there is even a grand ballroom which evokes vibes of the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles.

With the solstice quickly approaching, white nights are coming to St. Pete’s

Back in Moscow, we toured around as much as my school schedule would allow. Something new in the travelsphere is Airbnb Experiences. Many of you may use Airbnb rentals in cities around the world. The website now offers additional experiences at a fraction of the cost of private tours. I found Suz a walking tour of the Kremlin area of Moscow and she had a really nice time with her local Russian guide, Sveta. They traded stories and questions about culture, both in the States and here. I really can’t recommend a chance like this enough, especially for the opportunity to meet someone local. Call it next-level traveling but it truly enriches the experience.

Suz picked the perfect time of year to be in Moscow – not too hot but no more snow!

As I look forward to two more years here in Moscow, consider this an open invitation! This city is constantly evolving and updating, and certainly has a past worthy of any history buff’s time. You never know – you might wake up to find this goober waiting to greet you 😉

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NuArt Aberdeen

A couple of weeks ago I jetted off to Scotland for some professional development. My school is incredibly supportive when it comes to continuing our learning and I couldn’t appreciate it more. In the fall, I joined a ragtag bunch of a dozen art teachers stationed throughout Europe. When we met up in Luxembourg, we traded lesson ideas and did some place-based learning, taking in the city and making it our studio. Rubbings, painting sessions, and street sticker grabs fill my journal from that weekend.

Jeane (Norway) and Nicolina (Aberdeen)

This time, the group met up in Aberdeen, Scotland, for the kick-off weekend of the NuArt Aberdeen Festival. In the weeks prior, street artists the world over had descended upon this industrial northern Scottish town to make their mark. Throughout the weekend, I had the chance to see many of them speak on a number of topics from elderly engagement in the arts to tagging to contemporary outdoor museums.

The glorious Easter weather was well worth the travel. The granite architecture in Aberdeen means the town is spared the dusted look of Edinburgh, where softer stone is prolific. But this graveyard was straight up as mossy as the picture turned out.

Only three years young, NuArt Aberdeen blossomed out of the annual NuArt Festival in Stavanger, Norway. Another industrial city on the sea, Stavanger has been host to this street art festival since 2001. Aberdeen invests substantial funds to entice top name street artists to their city by the sea. The festival has made Aberdeen a bit of a street art Mecca. The official map of murals and paintings number just over 30 but there must be dozens more by lesser known artists.

Another art teacher and I set out to visit the works like a scavenger hunt and it took nearly two days and I still missed quite a few. I got to know the work of HUSH, Dotmaster, Jan Vormann, and Evol, to name a few. To hear more about these murals and the artists who created them, check this out.

This mural, perhaps my favorite, was created by Portuguese artist Add Fuel, a name I found pretty apropos considering Aberdeen’s place in the oil industry.

In front of the work of Helen Bur on Greyfriars House, Gallowgate

On the day I was departing Moscow, I was eating breakfast in the cafeteria with a number of Scottish colleagues. Upon mentioning I was flying to Aberdeen that evening, one of them mentioned the new V&A outpost which had opened in Dundee (if you’re not familiar, the Victoria & Albert Museum is an extremely revered museum in London). Excited not to waste such an opportunity, I hopped a train my first morning in Aberdeen and rode it an hour south to Dundee.

The ride itself was gorgeous, beginning alongside the frigid waters of the North Sea and bobbing in and out of farmland dressed with stone walls. The museum proved impressive in range, hosting a “best of Scottish design” show alongside a show on video games and digital literacy in the age of e-sports (a term I’ve only encountered recently from my students).

Back in Aberdeen, our group spent time at the International School Aberdeen, a lush campus about 15 minutes from downtown featuring modern architecture and top rate educational tools. I can understand why the overseas faculty never leave!

One of the coolest things about my time in Aberdeen was the chance to see one of the huge murals come to life. SMUG’s mural on The Green was sweet enough but thanks to our local chapter member, we had dinner in a cabin in the middle of it all, watching the whole process go down.

Aberdeen proved a charming little town. A little rough around the edges, it’s burgeoning art scene is boosted by start ups like Peacock Visual Arts, a small gallery and extensive print studio. With spots like Books and Beans (which I frequented daily for breakfast), there’s a lot to love about downtown.

With local pubs like Ma Cameron’s (obvi partial) and BrewDog, there are pints for the taking.

 

Though the festival events weren’t overly attended, the seven of us ate it up. Reinvigorated, I returned to my classroom ready to take on our next printmaking unit – protest posters – and put the inspiration and stencil skills to good use. Up next, I’m awaiting my aunt’s arrival in Moscow tomorrow. A trip to St. Pete’s is planned as well as the promise of more local Moscow sights to share with all of you.

This about sums up the weekend. Hoppy Easter! Great crew – Petr (Prague), Nicolina, and Ryan (Zurich).