Sunday Walk ~ May 25, 2014

Storage units with murals on them face the sidewalks or pedestrian paths,

This road system looked like it was set up for bikes or go carts.

the side facing the railroad tracks often have much more colorful graffiti.

The Ostankino tower was visible at first.

Narrow streets, limited parking and lots of cars = unique parking

On weekends the parks are full of brides.

St. Nicholas' church was reconstructed in 1997 to an early 20th century design by Art Nouveau architect Fyodor Shekhtel.  

The church was surrounded by little gardens and benches and even a children's playground.  

Across the street was Dubki Park, which means Little Oaks.

War Memorial

Sunbathing in bra and panties, they do sell swimsuits here.

The park was full of Oak trees, not many of them little any more.

We counted 13 ducklings with this mama duck, must be a safe place to raise ducklings.

Outside the Park

Produkti near the park

Timiryazevsky Woods or Timiryazev Agriculture Academy's Park

Very rarely do I see anyone baby wearing here, most babies are pushed in elaborate prams.

Cottonwood Tree Pukh

Pigeon Cote

Late 19th Century Church of St. Mitrofan

In 1906 the famous Russian artist Mikhail Vrubel visited the psychiatric clinic still based here.  Architect Fyodor Shekhtel designed the fence based on drawings by the artist Vrubel.  

We were not the only tour "group" out on this lovely day!

Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, a founding father of the theory of space flight

Petrovsky Palace, a rest house for traveling royalty, served for most of the 20th century as the Zhukovsky Air Academy where Gagarin trained.

Nikolai Zhukovsky, a scientific pioneer in the field of aerodynamics

Dinamo Metro Station

This walk was found in Phoebe Taplin's _Moscow Walks Spring_ book.  It is from the month of April and is entitled Catkins and Cosmonauts, it starts at Timiryazevskaya metro and ends at Dinamo metro encompassing about 7 km.  The book is one of four, there is a detailed guide for walks during each season of the year.  I bought the series at Le Pain Quotidien.  After church we took the metro to the beginning point of the walk and grabbed some chicken shawarma and hot dogs at a kiosk before starting out our walk.  We did not visit all of the sites she mentioned in the book, but nonetheless we enjoyed a beautiful day outside exploring a bit of Moscow that we might not otherwise get to.