Maslenitsa

In  2013, Maslenitsa (Russian carnival) will be held from 11 to 17 March, and from March 18 to begin Lent.
Pancake week - ancient Slavic feast remained since pagan culture and preserved after the adoption of Christianity. This is a holiday for a week when seeing off winter and welcome spring, expect a close heat and renewal of spring nature. Inapplicable attribute Carnival - pancakes, they have a ritual: the round, rosy, warm, they were a symbol of the sun, which flared brighter, lengthening days.

Maslenitsa - is the most joyous holiday with festivals, songs, dances, games and fairs. At the end of the festival is the ritual burning of a homemade effigy of winter, which symbolizes the destruction of the old, dilapidated, decrepit world and make space for a new, younger, better.

Interesting video (in russian) about the celebration of Carnival in the past of Russia. The video uses the paintings of Russian artists and parts of the films  "The Snow Maiden" and "The Barber of Siberia". In one story, you will see the fights, which I will discuss at another time. 

Origami Models of Famous russian Cathedrals

Real talent lives in the village Tigritskoe, Krasnoyarsk Krai. Teacher Sergey Tarasov made ​​of paper large models Saint Basil's Cathedral  and St. Saviour Monastery. To create their own origami man spent more than a year, using about 60 thousand colorful paper figures for each model.

Russian craftsman

 Russian people love handmade and they are  very good masters in the various arts. Not looking where they live.
For example Annette Valius (Аннета Валюс) was born and raised in Moscow, but now lived in France. She for the first time to take in the hands of beads in 2006. Since  Annette  created a lot of jewellery in technique of  Soutache embroidery, has participated in exhibitions and wrote a book about Soutache embroidery, hold master classes.

Sourse

Heavy snowfall in Moscow

February in Russia are usually the coldest month of the year. The weather may be different. For example, in Moscow and the Moscow region yesterday was a thaw, and now heavy snow with strong winds throughout the day. The situation is tense - cars on the roads are in huge traffic jams, the sidewalks in the snow or in the giant puddles.

Video (in Russian)