Global conversations
It is not often that my job gets emotional. But there was a tear in my eye as the archivists of the St Petersburg Military Medical Museum handed me a file of faded papers, which had been carefully stored in their archive for over 60 years. These papers related to my godfather, Geoffrey Hadden, who had served on the Polar Convoys during WWII. His ship was torpedoed and he was … Read more »Medicine without frontiers
It only takes an hour by car from St Petersburg to reach provincial Russia. I don’t mean the faded grandeur of the imperial parks and palaces on the tourist route. I mean the small towns with one or two Soviet era industrial enterprises, perhaps a run-down farm or two. This is dacha territory, where the city dwellers come in the summer months to grow their vegetables, and where in winter … Read more »High tech pigs
Few in the UK realise that there is a piece of Russia in middle of Europe – Kaliningrad is a small (by Russian standards) region of around 1 million people on the Baltic Coast, between Poland and Lithuania. It hosts an important Russian Naval base, has 80% of the world’s amber reserves and uses its ‘special economic zone’ status to attract investment. Being geographically separated from mainland Russia, and with … Read more »Kaliningrad – an unusual destination for Whisky tasting
Last week was the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens and there were many events held across Britain in honour of our greatest writer of the 19th Century, including a wreath laying ceremony by His Royal Highness Prince Charles at Poets’ Corner in Westminster Abbey. More unexpectedly for me, there were book readings in more than 50 countries across the world, including Russia. I attended a Dickens reading … Read more »Russians love Dickens too!
A guest blog from Deputy Consul General, Ben Greenwood. The London Olympics and the 60th anniversary of the coronation of the Queen will make 2012 truly memorable and historic for the UK. I was delighted to mark the beginning of this special year by giving gifts to two babies from St Petersburg born this month. Babies Platon and Anna each received special T-shirts commemorating the London Olympics. Both babies were still too … Read more »Olympic Baby Boom?
I think most Brits would say that Christmas is the best holiday of the year. It is a religious festival, a family gathering, a feast of food, drink and presents. This year I enjoyed singing Christmas Carols at the St Petersburg Christmas Market which included a British stand, selling good shortbread and sausage rolls. By the time I get to the New Year celebration, I usually have a slight sense … Read more »Looking forward to 2012
I recently attended the birthday party of the Astoria Hotel in St Petersburg, as it entered its 100th year. When it opened in 1912, the Russian Empire was experimenting with parliamentary democracy and trying to control the consequences of an industrial economic boom. Art Nouveau architecture had reached St Petersburg, and the new hotel had pride of place on St Issac’s Square. By the end of the 20th century, the … Read more »History with a British touch of style
A couple of weeks ago I celebrated St Andrew’s Day in St Petersburg. Scotland’s patron saint is Russia’s as well, and it was not difficult to get an enthusiastic crowd of Russians dancing the ‘Dashing White Sargeant’ to the sound of bagpipes. The whisky may have helped. There are plenty of links between Scotland and Russia, but recently I came across a particularly interesting one, recorded by James Riordan in … Read more »The Scots who brought football to Russia
The 3rd of December is UN ‘International Day of Persons with Disabilities’. This aims to break down the barriers which make it difficult for disabled people to participate fully in society. I got a similar message from watching an inspiring interview with the British athlete Baroness Grey Thompson recently. She has won 11 Olympic gold medals and 6London marathons, all from her wheelchair. She remembers how 35 years ago in … Read more »Breaking down barriers for disabled people at London 2012 and beyond
There is a Russian saying that ‘bread is the head of everything’. This doesn’t surprise me after spending time here eating delicious bread of many types – my favourite is stale black bread fried with garlic … But I was a surprised to hear that Russian bread consumption has fallen in recent years. In the 1980s it was at 90kg per person per year. Now it is down to 57kg, … Read more »Bread is the head of everything