Category Archives: Everyday life

McFoxy – the McDonalds knockoff

On my visit to Kyiv I found an interesting local fast food chain – McFoxy. Best described as a McDonalds knockoff, they served burgers, chips and drinks. The real McDonald’s opened their first restaurant in Ukraine in 1997. With McFoxy’s […]

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Abandoned escalators in Rome

Recently I came across an interesting photo on Twitter – a grass covered set of escalators headed underground somewhere in Rome. An abandoned metro station, or something else? One of those Rome projects that didn’t quite work out…. pic.twitter.com/FQS59U943u — […]

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Don’t drive into the River Volga!

Nizhny Novgorod is a historic Russian city located where the Oka River meets the Volga. As you might expect, many roads lead to the water. In the middle of winter there is no difference between snow and ice, so signs […]

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Rubber stamping Russian restaurant menus

As I travelled across Russia, there was peculiar on the menu at every restaurant I ate at – each page had a rubber stamp on it. Featuring what seemed to be the name of the restaurant, and a signature. So […]

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Kiev or Kyiv – what to call the Ukrainian capital

During my 2012 trip to Europe the only reason I had for visiting Kiev was to visit Chernobyl, but I ended up loving the city so much I was sad to leave it so soon. But one thing I never […]

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What do Russians finance at payday lenders?

Following on from a previous post on a clever advertisement from a payday lender in Nizhny Novgorod, this advert from ТФБ-Займъ (TFB-Zaim) has another oddball list of reasons to borrow money at exorbitant interest rates. I can understand car repairs, […]

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Roadside billboards in Russia

You’ve got to hand it to Russia – decades of communism haven’t affected their ability to get people to buy useless crap, if these billboards along the Volga River in Nizhny Novgorod are anything to go by. ‘High returns’ from […]

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Sochi construction before the 2014 Winter Olympics

My visit to Sochi was during the leadup to the 2014 Winter Olympics, so the city was in a state of flux. Cranes soared into the sky. As new apartment blocks took shape. As well as new hotels. Adding to […]

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Ice fishing across Russia

As I travelled by train across Russia in the middle of winter, there was one thing I saw on every river I passed over – people going ice fishing. They drive down to their local river. Then tramp across the […]

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Registration plates on Russian trucks and vans

During my time in Russia I noticed something curious – trucks and vans always had their registration plate number repeated in big letters on the rear of the vehicle.

Registration plate details repeated on the back of Russian trucks Continue reading

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