Don’t you get a lump in your throat looking at this sculpture? And tell me…how does a sculptor manage to get a pom-pom that small to literally dangle from a little boy’s shirt.

One of my all time favourite photographers!

Cousin David (who is visiting from Australia) and I walked around for a blissful 2 hours, taking in the work of Dyula Halas (1899-1984) who took the pseudonym Brassai (meaning “from Brasso”) in 1924, when he settled in Paris.

The exhibition features a massive collection of his photographs as well as some of his drawings and small sculptures.

Absolute BLISS!

This Friday was sadly cousin David’s last day in Moscow. We chose to end his stay with a visit to Novodevichy Convent, followed by a sensational Georgian lunch at Elarji and a visit to the Pushkin Gallery.

Novodevichy Convent, also known as Bogoroditse-Smolensky Monastery has remained virtually intact since the 17th century. In 2004, it was proclaimed a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Founded in 1524, it has sheltered its fair share of noble women who had been been forced to take the veil. Peter the Great found it a convenient place to deposit a few of his most troublesome ladies; Sophia Alekseyevna (Peter the Great‘s sister), Eudoxia Lopukhina (Peter the Great’s first wife), were both interned here. In Peter’s defence, his sister Sophia was obsessed with trying to kill him and was arrested when her plot to launch a hand-grenade into the sleeping Peter’s bed was foiled. Eudoxia was also partial to plotting against her husband too.

Its history has been dominated with drama; both real and fictitious. In 1812, Napoleon’s army made an attempt to blow up the convent, but its brave nuns managed to save it from destruction. In Tolstoy’s War and Peace, Pierre was to be executed under the convent walls. In another Tolstoy novel Anna Karenina, Konstantin Lyovin (the main character) meets his future wife Kitty ice-skating near monastery walls. In fact, Tolstoy himself enjoyed skating here when he lived in the nearby district of Khamovniki.

In 1922, the Bolsheviks ironically turned it into the Museum of Women’s Emancipation (Sophia and Eudoxia would have liked that) and later, into a history and art museum, which fortunately spared it from destruction.

In 1898, the Novodevichy cemetery was opened. It’s now home to the graves of Anton Chekhov and Nikolai Gogol, Peter Kropotkin, Nikita Khrushchev, Sergei Prokofiev, Dmitri Shostakovich, Konstantin Stanislavski, Boris Yeltsin, and Mstislav Rostropovich.

Let’s just say that a trip to the Pushkin Gallery involves allot of silent Ohhh’s and Ahhhh’s.

I visited the other day with my cousin David. We seemed to find ourselves silently mouthing one OMG after the other as we made our way through each spectacular room . The collection is astounding, to put it mildly.

The museum was founded by professor Ivan Tsvetaev (father of the poet Marina Tsvetaeva).  It was financed primarily by millionaire and philanthropist Yury Nechaev-Maltsov and designed by architects Roman Klein and Vladimir Shukhov.

Although it opened with just a modest collection, the Soviet government added to the collection by transferring thousands of works from St Petersburg’s Hermitage Museum in 1918. More art was added when the entire collection of Western art from the Museum Roumjantsev was added too.

Impressionist and Post-Impressionist artwork, including works by Van Gogh, Gauguin, Picasso, Dufrénoy and Matisse, as well as Van Gogh’s “La Vigne Rouge,” were later added from the State museum of New Western Art.

The winters in Moscow might be long and cold, but with this treasure trove just down the road, they’re starting to feel allot less ominous.

Ever fancied stepping back in time?

This palace on Tverskoy Boulevard was built in 1799 by the wealthy nobleman Ivan Rimsky Korsakov.

Korsakov was one of Catherine the Great’s lovers, selected for her by Praskovja Bruce who incidentally lived in a house at the end of our street. Praskovia had the delicate job of screening potential lovers in the bedchamber; a job she took on with great dedication, but a job that ultimately led to both her’s and Korsakov’s demise—Catherine later discovered they were having an affair and banished them from court. Korsakov handled it like a trooper though. After he up’d sticks from his little palace on Tverskoy Boulevard he moved to Brattsevo on the outskirts of Moscow where he began an affair with the married Countess Stroganova. The couple had four children (Varvara, Vladimir, Vassily and Sophia) who were graciously compensated for their illegitimacy by being given the name Ladomirsky (the name of an extinct Polish noble family). Interestingly, one of these children, Varvara Ivanovna Ladomirsky married Ivan Dimitrievich Narishkin and was the great-great-grandmother of Prince Felix Yussupov (best known for participating in the murder of Grigori Rasputin).

Korsakov’s palace was restored at great expense over a period of 6 years. The result is a riot of crystal chandeliers, gilded mouldings, hand painted silk and 16th century tapestries. A place where fantasy becomes reality, one heavenly mouthful at a time and they day slowly unravels with every ascending bubble in your glass of French Champagne.

Children are well catered for too. The mirrored Versailles style ballroom doubles as a play room; complete with a clown, puppet show, and hands on activities that include a cooking masterclass and craft workshops.

Cost wise its great value (Aprox $130.00/adult inc. champagne, wine and liqueur) and $35.00 for children. Brunch is served on Saturdays and Sundays from 1pm.