Russia
Russia
Russia is the largest country in the world, covering one-eighth of the Earths surface. Having a huge amount of resources, Russia is a very powerfull country with constant economic situation. Its history started from East Slavs. Than Orthodox Christianity was adopted. During thousands of years Russian history has been changing because of the wars, revolutions etc.
Russian flag consists of three colors: white, blue and red. It is said, that white color associate with nobility, blue with honesty and red stands for courage or, according to some versions, love.
It goes without saying, that country with long history has its own unique culture. It is really difficult to find an area, in which Russia didn't take part. We are proud of our greatest philosophers, artists, writers, scientists, musicians and architectors.
- Writers
It is really hard to overestimate the meaning of Russian writers, which are known all over the world. Tolstoy, Chekhov, Dostoevskyi, Bulgakov, Nabokov - are the writers, who have changed the face of literature. The plays of Ostrovskiy, the poetry of Pushkin, Lermontov, Essenin, Mayakovskiy are also adorable. It is opulence of worlds literature!
- Science
Russian astronaut - Yuriy Gagarin - was the first man, who was send into the space and succesfully returned back. Russian scientists are closely connected with issue of space, having done lots of discoverings. Moreover, Russian scientists have shown their strong knowledge in chemistry, medicine, biology and physics.
- Music
Russian classical music is a genre of classical music related to Russia's culture, people, or character. The 19th-century romantic period saw the largest development of this genre, with the emergence in particular of The Five, a group of composers associated with Mily Balakirev, and of the more German style of Pyotr Tchaikovsky.
- Art
Russians piece of arts are spread all over the world, being kept in lot's of museams all over the worlds. the masterpieces of Vasnetsov, Rerih, The fascinating pictures of sea of Aivazovskiy.
- Russian Ballet
Russian Ballet is a dance work, formed by choreography of Lev Ivanov and music of Tchaikovsky, which is very famous even nowadays. You can always see advertisments about ballet perfomances in nearly every city, especially Saint-Petersburg and Moscow.
Russian traditions a superstitions.
Russia is an ancent country with a long history, so it goes without saying that this country has lots of different traditions, as Maslenitsa or Day of Ivana Kupala.
Moreover, Russia has an enormous number of superstitions. for example:
- If one person accidentally steps on another person's foot, it is common for the person who was stepped on to lightly step on the foot of the person who stepped first. It is said that they thus avoid a future conflict.q
- Birds that land on a windowsill should be chased away. If they tap on the window, or fly into it (open or closed) it is considered a very bad omen (often of death).
-If a chicken crows at you three times before noon, the death of a close family member can be expected within a fortnight. The chicken should be killed, but not eaten, as consuming it will bring about further misfortune.
Russian cuisine.
Russian cuisine is a collection of the different cooking traditions of the Russian people. The cuisine is diverse, as Russia is by area the largest country in the world. Only Russian soups can be divided into seven large groups:
Chilled soups based on kvass, such as tyurya, okroshka, and botvinya.
Light soups and stews based on water and vegetables, such as swekolnik.
Noodle soups with meat, mushrooms, or milk.
Soups based on cabbage, most prominently shchi.
Thick soups based on meat broth, with a salty-sour base like rassolnik and solyanka.
Fish soups such as ukha.
Grain- and vegetable-based soups.
Russian cuisine isn't only about cuisine - it's also include meat dishes, as kholodetc, shashlyk, kotlety and pelmeny.
As a desert Russian pies and pancakes are quite popular:
Syrniki are fried curd fritters, garnished with sour cream, jam, honey, and/or apple sauce.
Vatrushka is a kind of cake with a ring of dough and tvorog (cottage cheese) in the middle, often with raisins or bits of fruit, from about five inches to two and a half feet in diameter.
And, of course, bliny, which a typically cooked when Maslenitsa is coming.
Russian alcohol:
Of Russia's alcoholic beverages, perhaps the most ancient is Medovukha, a sweet, low-alcohol drink, made with fermented-honey with the addition of various spices. A stronger honey-based beverage, stavlenniy myod, also exists in Russia and is broadly equivalent to Scandinavian mead; it is typically made with the admixture of berry juices.
Vodka is the most well-known of Russia's alcoholic products and is produced, with some variation, throughout the country. Vodka can be either grain or potato based and is frequently flavored with a great variety of ingredients ranging from hot-pepper and horseradish to fruits and berries.
Non-alcoholic Russian drinks:
Kvass is an ancient and still widely popular bread-based drink. The basic method of preparing kvass includes water, flour and liquid malt; these ingredients are used to make a dough that is subjected to fermentation
Another popular drink is mors, which is made of sweetened fruit juices diluted with water.
Tea is by far the most common drink in almost all parts of Russia. First introduced from China in the 17th century, its popularity has since spread throughout the country. Black tea has always been the dominant variety, but after the Russian acquisition of Central Asia, awareness of and interest in green tea began to increase slowly. Today Russia remains one of the largest tea consumers in the world. Russian Caravan is perhaps the most well known type of Russian tea around the world.