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Andrew Brockwicz-Lewinski had his audience spellbound as he described with ample illustration his three years in Moscow. Noting that he had only recently, as a quarterly judge, criticised members work, he hoped members would be forgiving of his own efforts which were taken as the opportunity arose during his work in Moscow. Andrew cleverly used his ancient digital projector to show his slides and any imperfections in the images were clearly down to this early, yet robust and perfectly adequate, machine!

Moscow seems to spend more time with snow than without it, and we shivered in sympathy as shoppers took their morning cuppa outside on snow covered tables. But district heating from central boilers seemed prevalent and Andrew explained that the heating went on on 1 October and off again on 31 March, whatever the actual temperature. And how to control the temperature if the room of a house becomes unbearably hot. Well the windows open, and there is plenty of cold outside to cool the room! Some images contrasted the multitude of identical tower blocks with the (seven?) Cathedrals to Atheism dotted around the City and available as living accommodation only to the influential. These startling structures, with towers resembling cathedral structures were high rise apartments, all built to the same basic design. But there were some beautiful buildings in Moscow, of which perhaps the most outstanding was the church St Basil. Apparently the onion-dome shapes arose from the desire to continue in stone the previous geometry prevalent in wood, and the newly acquired ability to be able to do so. The 1990’s represented a period of great change. Market shops which were basically large containers came and went. People queued for hours outside the new McDonald’s restaurants for the “fast food” provided.

Andrew’s talk was packed with interesting snippets of information. I had not realised that “Kremlin” meant “Citadel” ( so that most towns or cities had a kremlin); or that Moscow was founded in 1147. Looking for an excuse for a good party to lift the spirits the authorities had decided to celebrate the 850th anniversary of Moscow, and the street party went on for three days. It was safer to employ a Russian driver rather than attempt to drive oneself. Andrew was pleased to attend the wedding of this driver and witness the interesting ceremony and marriage customs. The consumption of Vodka featured high on the list of necessities.

Altogether a most satisfactory evening for which we thank Andrew and his wife most warmly.

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		Andrew Brockwicz-Lewinski had his audience spellbound as he described with ample illustration his three years in Moscow. Noting that he had only recently, as a quarterly judge, criticised members work, he hoped members would be forgiving of his own efforts which were taken as the opportunity arose during his work in Moscow. Andrew cleverly used his ancient digital projector to show his slides and any imperfections in the images were clearly down to this early, yet robust and perfectly adequate, machine! Moscow seems to spend more time with snow than without it, and we shivered in sympathy as shoppers took their morning cuppa outside on snow covered tables. But district heating from central boilers seemed prevalent and Andrew explained that the heating went on on 1 October and off again on 31 March, whatever the actual temperature. And how to control the temperature if the room of a house becomes unbearably hot. Well the windows open, and there is plenty of cold outside to cool the room! Some images contrasted the multitude of identical tower blocks with the (seven?) Cathedrals to Atheism dotted around the City and available as living accommodation only to the influential. These startling structures, with towers resembling cathedral structures were high rise apartments, all built to the same basic design. But there were some beautiful buildings in Moscow, of which perhaps the most outstanding was the church St Basil. Apparently the onion-dome shapes arose from the desire to continue in stone the previous geometry prevalent in wood, and the newly acquired ability to be able to do so. The 1990’s represented a period of great change. Market shops which were basically large containers came and went. People queued for hours outside the new McDonald’s restaurants for the “fast food” provided. Andrew’s talk was packed with interesting snippets of information. I had not realised that “Kremlin” meant “Citadel” ( so that most towns or cities had a kremlin); or that Moscow was founded in 1147. Looking for an excuse for a good party to lift the spirits the authorities had decided to celebrate the 850th anniversary of Moscow, and the street party went on for three days. It was safer to employ a Russian driver rather than attempt to drive oneself. Andrew was pleased to attend the wedding of this driver and witness the interesting ceremony and marriage customs. The consumption of Vodka featured high on the list of necessities. Altogether a most satisfactory evening for which we thank Andrew and his wife most warmly. Bill Chadband
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