Should you find yourself snagged by a Russian Bride, chances are that you’ll wind up at Zags.

The Russian registry office is a wonderful Soviet institution that you can still enjoy today. Most provincial Zags ‘Palaces Of Marriage’ are on the ground floor of ugly concrete blocks and hard to distinguish from dry cleaners or nondescript [...]

NAST - Russia’s National Association Of Telokraniteli (Bodyguards) - was founded in 1995. Basically that’s when law and order in Russia was privatised under capitalism. Today NAST is the minder for an industry which employs over a million people.
I’ve been wondering if I should get a bodyguard while wandering around Russia. It is [...]

Don’t think for a moment that London has the monopoly on covert operations. Or that Moscow is the capital of unsolved crime.
A campaign of terror has recently been unleashed against Novgorod’s street art.
I discovered it while walking into town the other day and stopping by this sculpture near the market.

My first impression was of [...]

Like the old Soviet-style shops, night spots in Novgorod appear to be buried deep in the housing estates. You can’t see them during the day. The trick is to go out after dark with night-vision goggles and look for some extra bright lights reflected in the puddles, for which Novgorod is famous. People complain about [...]

Just as I was wondering how to pass the long winter evenings in a Soviet apartment, I got this great tip from www.risk.ru. Adventure is waiting right outside the kitchen window.
Click image for enhanced vertigo

Risk.ru recommends apartmenteering in the frozen north, preferably Norilsk, where there’s good quality sheet ice to be had on most [...]

It was a wonderful Autumn in Novgorod. The russety rust colours tinged all the shades of evening shadows. Click for bigger images.

Sometimes, green refuses to turn to brown.

An autumnal Lada taxi speeds past my window into town. Why? Nothing ever happens in Novgorod.

A Russian girl dyes her hair ‘autumn’. At least the sunset is real.

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When in Russia, I’m always reminded of the burning FAQ’s I have yet to address. For example, ‘Why Are All Russian Women On The Internet?’
Very few people are aware that all these virtual hotties and Kournikova leg-alikes on the net are just ordinary shop assistants.
Quite simply, Russian shop assistants are unable to meet anyone in [...]

A little-known and unreported issue recently threatened to derail Russia’s passage into the WTO.
Full member countries are obliged to become signatories to the Hague Convention on Hot and Cold, which requires taps to be colour-coded red and blue, in compliance with international standards.
As it happens, there are already many red and blue taps appearing [...]