Monday, March 7, 2011

масленица

масленица is a wonderful Russian holiday when people come together to celebrate and eat blini. Blini are like crepes, and by like, I mean they are. We literally cannot tell the difference. So on Sunday, we all went to Pavlovsk (which is about an hour away) to celebrate масленица! It was really fun and gorgeous. They gave us a tour of the palace there and then gave us 4 hours to enjoy the festivities. I had an amazing time and it just so happened that the trip coincided with my birthday, and I was so glad to be in the middle of a Russian festival (especially one so focused on eating). 


Even without the festival, it still would have been a great excursion because the area was so beautiful
Kids on sleds EVERYWHERE!
AMAZING шашлик. We had to stand in line forever, but it was completely worth it
Yes, that is a reindeer. 
I love Russia
This was a straw doll that represents winter and cold so during масленица they burn it to represent the end of winter
So many people
Towards the end of the burning. Afterwards, we had to run to make it to the meeting point on time. It wasnt necessarily far, but we had to trudge through thigh-high snow, so I was exhausted.
I really could not have asked for a better way to celebrate my birthday and I'm so glad that our program took us there. I found a recipe for blini, so I may attempt to make them sometime soon. Oh and sorry I didnt take a picture of my blini, I ate it too quickly. But really, they are just crepes. And they are delicious. 

2 comments:

  1. i didn't think reindeer were that small.... but yayyy for an amazing birthday!!

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  2. I JUST WROTE THIS LONG COMMENT and it was deleted! ANYWAY, you and the snow both look so pretty! i believe my original comment said "maybe not so much the burning but wait i take it back the fire is pretty toooo" i miss europe/i want to celebrate this russian holiday/eat blini with you. wait no i mean crepes.

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