Curiouser

Ivan Bilibin's Russian Fairy Tale Illustrations

On our last night in Moscow a few weeks ago, Alex and I decided to finally take it easy and spend some time doing one of our favorite things: browsing around a bookstore.

Moskva is an awesome bookstore right in the center of Moscow on Tverskaya Ulitsa (street). It's open until 1AM and has the best selection of art and academic books i have ever seen.

The Moskva Bookstore also has a really wonderful collection of antique books, where I spent probably two hours looking through mostly battered editions of old illustrated Pushkin children's tales. I love them.

Sitting on the floor among dusty books, i stumbled across a facsimile of the 1907 edition of Ivan Bilibin illustrated children's classics. I havn't looked at Bilibin's illustrations since I was a baby and was completely in awe of his beautiful, beautiful work. Some of his long lines and muted color choices remind me of Japanese woodcuts.

Bilibin was born in St. Petersburg in 1876 and went on to become one of the most respected and well-loved illustrators of Russia. He loved old Slavic folk tales and the wooden carvings found in the north/eastern regions of the Russian Empire.

Bilibin's illustrations are reproduced regularly in new additions, but the gorgeous facsimile i found is really something unique and special. It includes all 6 books from the original set and every detail of Bilibin's brush strokes is replicated.

I can't help being a show-off about it! 

Several of the books have never been opened, which makes them more valuable as collector's items, but my hands are just itching to go through the gorgeous, dream-like pages.... ooooh!!!

The characters in these fairy-tales continue to hold a really significant place in Russian literature, poetry and really culture in general. For me, they still retain the magic I felt when my mom and grandma Sonichka read them to me in bed at night... Sonichka is the best fairy-tale reader and teller ever. She always somehow managed to include my sister Val and I in all the action - we became characters too.

Anyway, I'm getting carried away here...

If you are interested in Russian fairy-tales or folklore in general, there is a great book put out by the State Russian Museum called Fairytales in Russia. 

The tome (available in both Russian and English) starts as a compendium of Russian and Slavic folk tales and then highlights the influence they've had on design and popular culture. It's priced at $89, which is really not very much for a book of this quality and beauty.

You can buy at on-line at the Hermitage Museum Shop.

In the meantime, here are some more wonderful Bilibin illustrations for you to enjoy:

From Czar Sultan (Pushkin)

Morozko

Baba Yaga - that old hag! (the topic of Baba Yaga, the ugly and evil old woman, is very interesting... the progression of wise old women from mothers and healers into child-eating monsters - but that's a whole other post.)

From Vasilisa the Beautiful (another Baba Yaga tale) - note the traditional Russia costumes

If you want to browse through some more of Bilibin's work - which you now obviously do - check out SurlaLuneFairyTales.com - they have a really nice collection from the works of many illustrators.

Eastern European Bathrooms

As I mentioned in my last post, I feel the need to share my Baltics travel experience and encourage others to explore this wonderful corner of the world. Until quite recently it was all hidden away behind the Iron Curtain.

Despite all the rich history and beauty I marveled at on my journey, for some reason i feel compelled to start off by discussing the bathrooms. Alex will probably be appalled by this display of prissy-silly-girlishness, but i do not care.

Frankly, any woman planning on exploring the Baltics and Eastern Europe must be prepared for the displeasure of using their toilets.

Here are the first three things a girl ought to know:

1. Do not expect toilet paper
2. Do not expect toilet seat
3. When outside major cities: do not expect toilets

What, pray tell, does point number 3 mean?  Well well well! Have you ever seen one of these beauties:

No? This, my friends, is a 'stand-over'. And this is a clean, seemingly sanitary example there of. Most of these don't have such lovely wooden doors. Many are also not 'flushable'. And don't think that sticking to capital cities will protect you from run-ins with stand-overs either! Vilnius' main train and bus stations have only these... and you have to pay to use them.

Here's another thing you should know: there are many public bathrooms for which you'll have to pay. But don't think that just because you're paying you'll be getting toilet paper, toilet seat, sanitary conditions or a toilet (as mentioned above).

All over the Baltic capitals of Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius, you will find a lovely chain of Starbucks-like coffee shops (which also serve sushi for some reason) called Double Coffee. Their bathrooms are very clean and they don't mind you stopping in to use them... take advantage of that. And while you're at it, try their MOCCA drink, it's delicious!

Now, I hope that the thought of crouching to pee in-doors will not turn you off to the whole idea of visiting the Baltics and/or Eastern Europe. I hope you have a sense of adventure! If a germaphobe like me can do it, surely you can too.

As long as you are prepared ahead of time, everything will be just fine. Please, be prepared. Always carry along Charmin To Go toilet paper rolls. They are very convenient and will fit into practically any purse. You can buy them at your local drug store, or in bulk on Amazon. Also carry hand sanitizer, using the available hand washing facilities will only make you feel dirtier.

Ahem.

I promise to make my next travel post more cultured and intelligent. But this girl wanted to help her sisters out. Amen. 

Back in the USA

Alex and I have been away on vacation for the past two weeks... hence no new posts. I'm sure my many many readers missed me so.

On our Eastern European Adventure, Alex and I visited Moscow, St. Petersburg, Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius. We had an absolutely spectacular time, complete with a scary detention by border patrol in Belarus... but more on that later!

Before our travels, we purchased some guide books on the Baltics, but unfortunately those turned out to be quite unsatisfactory...

AND SO:

I have been inspired to put everything we learned about the Baltics and how to get around there and what to see down in this very blog to help other would be adventurers!

Today was my first day back at work and due to the fact that I absolutely refused to check e-mail while taking this much needed break, I returned to find over 400 unreads in the old inbox... a good portion of them urgent. And of course I had 4 back to back meetings. So now I am tired and will have to give up writing anything else until tomorrow!

ta-ta!