This winter is marvelous! There is much snow here and the weather is cold enough to keep snow dry. That's unusual for St. Petersburg with its long dark winters full of slush...

I visited Pskov oblast a week ago. Pskov winter is even better because there is no the metropolis warm maden by millions of cars, pedestrians, house heating, factories etc.

1/ - Dvortsy village near Bezhanitsy town

On 15th December Pacific microstate Nauru recognised Abkhazia, rebel region of Georgia occupied by Russian military forces and recognised by Russia, Nicaragua and Venezuela.

Halloween has become a popular youth holiday in Russian large cities. Many creative people celebrate Halloween at clubs and their homes. Mass character is new here. Nobody made Halloween parties in Soviet time but the idea of Halloween was known due to American movies. As I see Halloween gains much popularity last years...

Below you'll see 4 photos of my first true Halloween party at my home in 2004.

Petersburg's the nicest nature feature is Neva river. The city core with all its beautiful granite embankments and drawbridges stretches on wide Neva delta. If you are rather nature lover than an architecture fan you won't find something valuable there except this. So you need visit Petersburg surroundings because they are really different.

Georgia has left the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), organization-successor of USSR, after the Georgian parliament's decision on 14th August 2008. The Russian-Georgian war in August 2008 became the key reason to leave the organization although Georgia had declared the intention to put end to CIS membership before.