BOLATNY BETWEEN BRIDGES

The weather was unnaturally nice, sunny and warm Saturday, so after a late lunch on the Old Arbat and some grocery shopping, Andrea went to the library, and I headed out to do some additional exploring in our terrific neighborhood. There are numerous foreign embassies and consulates in our backyard!

I checked out Bolatny Island, which is the island in the Moscow River. It is accessed via the Patriarch's Bridge, which juts out from the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.

Bolatny Island is home to the former Red October chocolate factory. Like many old industrial installations in the States, it is now a "hipsters scene" with galleries, restaurants, drinking establishments and the Strelka Institute for Architecture, Media and Design.

On the tip of the island is the Peter the Great, or as some Muscovites call it, "Peter the Ugly" statue.

From there, I passed through the Park of the Fallen Heroes. It is actually called the Art Muzeon Statue Park now because it has all sorts of interesting statues. However, it also has a bunch of statues of Soviet-era "heroes." Officially, you are supposed to pay to enter this park, but it just didn't make sense to me to pay!

From there, I walked past the new Tretyakov Art Gallery. Andrea and I visited this vast art museum of 20th Century Russian artists Sunday with her Russian language teacher, Katja, a charming young woman. The collection is notable for its collection of Supremetism, Constructivism and Socialist Realism. We took no photos.

Sunday night, we had dinner in and stayed up very, very late watching NFL. It was after 5:00 a.m. when we went to sleep. Andrea woke up at 12:30 p.m. By 2:30 p.m. today, we went to the library, where I acted as research assistant, i.e., I scanned books. We had good Thai cuisine for dinner tonight.

Here are some photos from my tiring Saturday afternoon promenade.

CHRIST THE SAVIOR CATHEDRAL AND THE PATRIARCH'S BRIDGE TO BOLATNY ISLAND.

OLD RED OCTOBER CHOCOLATE FACTORY FACILITY ON BOLATNY ISLAND.

THE RED OCTOBER COMPLEX IS NOW OVERRUN WITH EVERYTHING THAT APPEALS TO YOUNG HIPSTERS: BARS, GALLERIES, TECHNOLOGY STORES...

MOSCOW RIVER VIEW: NEW TRETYAKOV GALLERY ON LEFT AND KRYMSKY VAL BRIDGE IN DISTANCE.

THE VODOOTVODNY CANAL. THE ISLAND IS FORMED BY THIS CANAL ON THE SOUTH SIDE AND WAS CONSTRUCTED TO CONTROL FLOODING.

PATRIARCH'S BRIDGE EXTENSION OVER THE VODOOTVODNY  CANAL.

GRAPE MAN. PART OF THE EXHIBITALY EXHIBITION ABOUT ITALIAN DESIGN AND INNOVATION AT THE STRELKA. EARLIER IN SEPTEMBER, I PHOTOGRAPHED "PASTA PETE."

ZURAB TSERETELLI'S PETER THE GREAT STATUE. IT IS 94.5 METERS (310 FEET) HIGH, WHICH IS TWICE THE HEIGHT OF THE STATUE OF LIBERTY WITHOUT HER PEDESTAL.

ART MUZEON SCULPTURE PARK. THIS PARK SURROUNDS THE NEW TRETYAKOV GALLERY.

ART MUZEON SCULPTURE PARK.

ART MUZEON SCULPTURE PARK.

ENTRANCE TO THE NEW TRETYAKOV GALLERY. GONCHAROVA, LARIANOV, MALEVICH...AND MANY MORE INSIDE.

KRYMSKY VAL BRIDGE OVER THE MOSCOW RIVER.

PETER THE GREAT STATUE FROM THE KRYMSKY VAL BRIDGE.

A NEAT APARTMENT HOUSE IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD.