Dacha and Football

- some of the Loko toughs.
- Annie and the guy with the scarf-buying problem
- that sort of night for Lokomotiv
- no shortage of energy
- sort of like stationary, drunken, mass yoga.
- the happy family na dache
- local Russian girl on a bike
- the entry to Sveta's neighbor's dacha.
- shahlyk grilling on the open fire, fresh well water waiting to be fetched...
- all Russian girls must know how to distribute the potatoes.
- peonies: check.

Well, Sveta was in town from London, and so of course we had to hit up the dacha and the football. As the photos reveal, Sveta's family dacha is a little sanctuary only 50km from Moscow, but it feels much farther than that. Plus the three hours of traffic helps increase the sense of distance! Shashlyki, Russian salads, fresh produce from the garden, and some good old fashioned physical labor, just enough to remind this city-dweller what "work" feels like.

Also stopped in to visit Lokomotiv - aka Loko - formerly the Railway Ministry's soccer team, with Sveta's cousin Sasha and my friend Annie. Unfortunately we neither participated in nor witnessed any fights, nor outbursts of xenophobia. In fact the only law-breaking going on was amongst the four of us sneaking beers in the park before the game. Loko was soundly defeated, but fun was had by all.