DEC 25, 23 .. PATTI AND I WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS

 We wish you a Merry Christmas..

 We wish you a Merry Christmas..

 We wish you a Merry Christmas..

And a Happy New Year!

Good tidings we bring

To you and your kin

We wish you a Merry Christmas..

And a Happy New Year!

We hope you never forget that..

Jesus is the reason for this season!

All of our friends over in Russia will be celebrating Eastern Orthodox Christmas on this upcoming January the 7th 2024.

Do you want to know why? Check out Wikipedia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_in_Russia

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Below are a few Christmas photos to brighten up your day.

We will begin with a few photos taken in Hong Kong.

Yes indeed! My favorite Christmas photo of Patti was taken in Hong Kong during Christmas 2014.

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Now we go to Russian Siberia for more Christmas photos.

There you have Christmas 2023 here on blogspot. 

Whew Huh?

Cap and Patti

SEP 7, 19 .. VLADIVOSTOK .. THREE CHURCHES

Here we go, where we are going not even I, your Captain at the wheel of the ship, knows.

I want to show some more of the various attractions and sights that I saw when the sun-shone (after days of rain and grey skies) here in Vladivostok on Saturday the 31st of August.

I have already shown two of the bridges, The Golden (Horn) Bridge and the Russky Island Bridge, and a glimpse of the Amur Bay Bridge.

So I am going to just start going through my photographs and what comes up, comes up.

I visited three churches here in Vladivostok and amazingly each are shown in the below link.

http://vladivostok.travel/en/todo/the-temples-of-vladivostok/

MOTHER OF GOD ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH

I visited this church several times to participate in meetings in the below room.

I snapped the below view overlooking Vladivostok from the church.

EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH OF ST. PAUL

The below photos tell me the church is home to families and children.

I get 'good vibes' seeing this area.

Inside we go. It is a beautiful, simple and basic, church.

Upstairs looking down from the church library.

I was here for a meeting.

Good Night Rest In Peace.

CHURCH OF THE INTERCESSION OF THE MOTHER OF GOD

As you probably can tell the instant you see this church, it is indeed a Russian Orthodox Church. Due to the construction underway and our time schedule, I did not enter the church.

At the bottom of the above and below photos, you can see the weekend market is in full swing.

Notice in the below photo how the sun was illuminating the crosses.

A few photos of the market.

I am leaving Russia this upcoming Monday which is the day-after-tomorrow! So I am going to call this post a 'done-deal' because I don't want to be up too late tonight.

Cap

MAY 23, 19 .. IRKUTSK .. CATHEDRAL OF THE KAZAN ICON MOTHER OF GOD

In the above title to this post, please note that this cathedral is located in IRKUTSK (ИРКУТСК) Russian Siberia.

I point this out because our last post was of the CHITA (ЧИТА) Russian Siberia cathedral of the same name.

So we are not 'losing it' and repeating ourselves.

Icon* : Noun : A picture, image, or other representation.

Kazan : A city in Russia, 820 kilometers almost due-East of Moscow, on the Volga River.

The original Icon* of Our Lady of Kazan / Mother-of-God of Kazan, dates back to the 13th century. We do not know if the original Icon has survived centuries of mystery including being stolen in 1904. It is doubtful.

The two most famous, or most noted, Russian Orthodox Cathedrals consecrated to Our Lady of Kazan are in Moscow and St. Petersburg, Russia.

The Cathedral of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God stands as the number one, top-of-the-list attraction as to things to do here in Irkutsk. 

Often we are somewhat hesitant to visit attractions so highly rated due to them being crowded with tourists and local residents. Also the cathedral is somewhat difficult to find.

Patti and I had no choice in the decision to visit the Cathedral. Friends who live here in Irkutsk simply took us to see it.

IF churches / cathedrals / religious sites are of interest to you, this is an absolute must-do, must-see, attraction to visit. Yes there were many other visitors. They did not detract from our enjoying our visit. The ice sculptures alone were worth seeing. It is beautiful, gorgeous, fascinating, and wonderful to see.

The below photos really were taken by me. Amazing the beauty of this magnificent edifice.

In February when we visited, it was still cold and the ice sculptures were still erect.

Time to go inside.

When you stand quietly and solemnly in such a magnificent place, you really feel the presence of the Great Reality that is God.

Reverently .. Patti and Cap