Indian Summer

Although weather is too standard and beaten topic to discuss, this time it can't be skipped. Today was a beautiful day in Boston. It is now almost October, but since morning it felt like end of July. Only at around half past four in the evening the weather started to change. I left home pretty late today, and when I was walking outside, I realized that it was so hot that if I won't change my T-shirt to a smaller one, I will die from touch of the Sun. Not a gentle one.

General view of Whittemore avenue, North cambridge, from Alewife Brook parkway

I now temporary live in West Medford, and my residence is steps away from the railway station. It is so close that one hundred seconds after stepping off the train I am at home. North Station, second biggest railway terminal in Boston, is the last or first stopping of the train, depending on its route, inbound or outbound respectfully. West Medford is penultimate or second as well, and it takes the train (and obviously all its passengers including me) some more then ten minutes to get from one station to another. A ride on the train costs $2.10, fifty-five cents less then a ride on subway tram.
When crossing a parking lot near Alewife station, I noticed this wooden table with benches, enchained to the tree nearby. Everything can be stolen nowadays.

A tattoo removing commercial inside the red line train I am simply out of words - there are no limits for human stupidity!

When crossing the Boston Public Garden, I saw this beautiful victorian rose - nice idea for a card.

In the middle of autumn somebody decided to plant flowers at Charles river Esplanade. Hope they will blossom this December.

I'll tell you more: hydrangea already blossom. Good for them, weather is still nice.

Indian summer is usually not very long to last. I know that today was the last day of the year this hot, tomorrow the day will be very hot, and from Tuesday temperature will lower. Indian summer is the last chance to enjoy the summer and say goodbye to it. It is the last chance to sunbathe, for those who feel that it wash't enough, last chance to hide from brain melting heat. I simply enjoyed the mid-summer weather today. It is a little sad that summer weather will soon be gone, but then there will be a time for golden autumn, which I also enjoy a lot. That's all for today, and enjoy the rest of September.

Holding Hands for 700 years

I have had a lot of newspaper stories here on my blog, but they were all too everyday and simple-based for a common reader. Now, there is something great.
I was reading the news on the website of one of the British newspapers to find out if Scotland had already separated from Great Britain or not, and accidentally read the title of this story, among thousands of others.

Mid-September Warmth

When I woke up in the morning and, rubbing my red eyes, which were still asleep, went out of my room to the lobby, I knew that the first thing I was going to do was to see the weather forecast. Staggering, I came closer to some sheets of paper attached to the wall with some letters on them of all colors of a rainbow. After a minute of staring at colorful numbers and realizing their true meaning, I was surprised, it must be said, in a positive context of this word. The temperature, which weather forecast services predicted and promised us to be, were as warm as I could not even expected. For today, the temperature was expected to be high twenty degrees above zero! Even yesterday evening it was pretty warm, but did not feel like this. To confirm my expectations I immediately went outside of the building, and a warm pleasant wind blew into my face. I indicate this state of mind as "glee".

Three Nights in Boston

Now, when the second week of classes at the university is over, I can feel myself a little bit involved back in academic life. My second year started relatively good. A lot of stress, both on academic and personal basis equally made a big mark on my impressions. From one point of view, there is nothing good in such a stress, but from another it adds more colors to everyday landscapes. This issue is a sort of photo album, which style is landscape.

9/11 Special

This sunny day marked the eleventh anniversary of 9/11 tragedy, the fall of World Trade Center towers in New York City. All around the World, mourning ceremonies were held today, just like they were held twelve times before, each year, as a tribute to those 2977 people for whom that day was the last. We will never know who stood behind it, but another anniversary makes us think about those 2977 souls. In today's papers, a lot of new stories from the families of those who were killed there, were published for the first time, and here is one of them, from the New York Times:

That was the story on page one, continued on A21:

The heartbreaking moments, described by the people, were concluded with another story from Metro Boston. Not only New York was shocked that day, fear spread everywhere. Boston is an example:

I attended the 9/11 memorial at Northeastern University, which was dedicated to a student of it who fell there. It must be said that the ceremony, brief and peaceful, was held very unorganized. It started at half past eleven, and from all the university's students and staff only about two hundred persons attended. The memorial is situated between three halls, and obviously a lot of people pass by this place. The period of time before noon is always a rush hour on campus, and those who came to see the ceremony blocked the way for those who intended to pass by. A small crush occurred.

Moreover, the microphones worked so quietly, almost did not worked at all, so the people who stood in the back, like me, could not hear what they were talking about. President Aoun, some old lady after him and a guy gave their speeches, which I, unfortunately, misheard. A guy sang a song in the end about love, peace and hope, and welcomed others in the crowd to join him, however, almost nobody did, and those who did sang very quietly, which could be expected. I (and I believe much more from the crowd) did not know the lyrics at all or heard this song for the first time. At the end, it was offered to take a decorative stone and place it at the memorial or take it and keep as a keepsake.

That's all for today. I wonder for how many years will this tragic event be remembered. But I know that as long as we remember it and keep it in our hearts, we are protected from being stroke by the similar disaster.





Some Fresh Impressions

It's hard to describe how many things happened to me during the previous week and in how many places have I been. My life goes very interesting: for a very long period of time I have no idea what to write about, and in a week so many things can happen that I just won't remember everything. Now, when the impressions are pretty fresh, I'll try to share as much as I can.
The week before my Mum offered me to visit Saint Petersburg. It was a great idea, however she thought that I won't like it. But I did, and the night which linked Monday to Tuesday was the night of our departure from Moscow. The train left very late at night and arrived at about nine o'clock in the morning. Oh, what a train it was! I felt like in a hotel room. A luxurious compartment reminded me of a hotel room. In other carriages of the train, there were compartments with a personal shower and restroom, but they were very expensive. Our seats were priced just as usual seats in common passenger carriages.
Saint Petersburg is a city which is very similar, and at the same time very different from Moscow. It has a special atmosphere which is hard to describe. I would say, it's less aggressive.
The hotel where we stayed was also of an interesting design. This unusual banquette was placed right in front of my door.

Here are a couple shots of the interior of my room, which was located on the third floor. Take a look:

Ceiling looked like a portal towering skyward.

In the hotel, everything necessary was provided.

such apartment was a budget choice to stay overnight, and a smart decision for aesthetes. When we arrived, we did not have a chance to enjoy the room since our trip was very short, and it was for walking, not for sitting in the hotel and being watched by four walls. Hotel also had a cafe downstairs. I can't describe it since we did not have a breakfast there, but it looked nice.

During the trip we've been to a lot of catering establishments, but the most remarkable of them was Moscow restaurant. Although I did not like its interior design, I have to mention that food is really tasty there. If you will ever visit this restaurant - take some shaverma there, at least ten, with you. People are of different tastes, but shaverma is unrepeatable.

Probably the most exciting moment, which I remembered more than others and will associate with this trip in future, was the Instagram photo printing station. It was a big wood-colored box with a printer in it, and surely there was a line of people who needed some photos to be printed. Or just wanted.

Another moment which I captured on my camera were pigeons devouringly eating something like they haven't seen food for a week. There was a hundred of them, maybe more, and it was just scary to come closer.

Knowledge Day