May 17: Wing and a Prayer

May 17:  Wing and a Prayer

Once again, there are so many comments that come to mind with this picture.  It is really difficult to just chose one.
According to an advertisement I saw, are work such as picture above cost just as much if not more than the car itself.
A friend of mine, who works in the auto industry in Russia, told me people apply custom paint to cars to in an effort to prevent theft.   I was skeptical, but now I am a believer.  Who would want to steal a mini-coop with doves painted on the side?  Do you think a thief would be embarrassed to tell us other thief friends about the hot ride he stole?

April 7: Stop!

April 7: Stop!

A traffic light and stop sign in Russian. The white sign with four letters printed in black writing says "Stop!" in Russian.

March 31: Traffic

March 31: Traffic

Moscow has some of the worst traffic in the world. There are too many cars and people for a city designed prior to the invention of the automobile. This combined with a limited number of places where making a left turn is legal and a law against moving an automobile crashs off to the side of the road  (even a fender-bender) until the police arrive causes traffic to come to a complete stand still sometimes.

Today, I sat somewhere between 80 - 100 minutes in my car in this tunnel. Did I mention my son was in the car?  Not the best picture; just my pain and frustration.

March 20: Beep! Beep!

March 20: Beep! Beep!

Parking on the sidewalk is an illegally accepted method of parking in Moscow. The Volkswagen is this picture is parked illegally. In order to get to this spot, the driver had to drive about 50 yards on the sidewalk.

As I was standing on the sidewalk talking a picture, I was almost hit by the driver of this Volkswagen. I was so engrossed in what I was doing I did not realize he was honking at me to get get out the way. At least the driver did apologize for almost running me over. 

Little did you know...I risk my life for these pictures.

March 16: Tverskaya Ulitsa

March 16: Tverskaya Ulitsa
This is a view of the main street, Tverskaya Ulitsa, in Moscow. The street starts at the Kremlin and ends just outside the city center.

March 12: Meeeoooow!

March 12: Meeeeooow!
There are so many comments that come to mind with this picture...I am not sure where to start. It is hard when you are as sarcastic as me to find just one appropriate comment.

The fact is a lot of cars in Moscow have custom paint. This is by far not the strangest one I have seen. Imported cars are extremely expensive - almost 40% - 80% more than in the US. A friend of mine in the auto industry told me car owners apply customer paint to help prevent a cars from being stolen. Not sure if this is true, but it makes sense to me. Who would want to steal someone's cat?

I bet the dogs have fun chasing this car! Bark! Bark! Meeeeooo!

February 3: Perfect Parking Spot

February 3: Perfect Parking Spot
Due to the poor driving conditions in the winter (ice, snow, tire requirements, etc.), there are some people who park their car for the winter and do not drive. This car has not been moved since late November.

January 27: Visualization of Pollution

January 27: Morning Rush Hour Pollution

The temperature this morning was -24 C. The sub-zero air temperature allows the exhaust produced by each car on the street to be visualized. This is NOT fog; it is pollution.

January 27: Impact to Pollution from a Single Car
This picture show the amount of exhaust (pollution) produced by one car in a city where there are millions of cars. After seeing this, I now am aware of how much pollution I am breathing into my lungs when I walk along side a busy street.