Moscow Mondays: Живописный мост

Happy Monday! What joys has your Monday brought? Mine thus far has included:

• My coldest day in Moscow yet: -20 Celsius / -4 Fahrenheit.
• Despite the awful temperatures, today I saw sunshine!!! We're down to about 7 hours of daylight and those tend to fall while I'm in the catacombs of the opera. Sunlight, even when doing nothing for the temperature, is a beautiful thing. 
• A final exam. Oh, Russian grammar...how thou dost try my patience. To help us channel our Russian energy, the university shut off the heaters for the morning. Okay, not really. But they were definitely broken. And it made me doubly thrilled to finish the exam. 
• When it's -20 out, every step outdoors must be calculated. Post-university I decided to grab some delicious döner kebab, as it just so happens that the BEST place for it in Moscow is relatively near my university. When I say "relatively near" that means about 10-15 minutes on foot. In the elements. It was a risky decision, but oh so tasty!

• This advertisement seen today in the metro = my personal life motto. "It's cold outside!" "In your soul it's warm!" Chocolate: "Optimism in your hands." Made. My. Day.

Today's original Moscow Monday game plan was a trip to an icon museum. But since I had only seen it on a map and couldn't accurately gauge how many minutes it would take to walk from metro to museum, it was out. So instead, I bring you:

Живописный Мост

I pass by it every day on my way into the center and I've been meaning to photograph it since Day 1. Today's sunshine made it irresistible, so instead of spending 15-20 minutes outdoors hunting for an icon museum, I spent about 40 minutes forgetting my frozen feet and snapping shots of what could be called my "hood."

While the red of the bridge is much more vivid in autumn or summer sunlight (I believe summer sunlight exists in Moscow, though I'll have to see it to be convinced), I love seeing the river iced over. Rumor has it that people walk across it comfortably in the winter months. Hasn't made it onto my to-do list...my calculations suggest that would be too long spent out of doors...but we'll see.

I found this blog that has some stunning pictures of the bridge in warmer days. Weather AND photo jealousy ensued and I'm determined to devote more time to learning to coax beauty from my camera.

While not my immediate neighborhood...this is my neighboring civilization.

But there's no place like Home Sweet Home.

This Moscow Monday was yet another reminder of the stunning beauty this city has to offer. And the two blankets, hot lemon water, and fresh pair of thick socks that awaited upon my arrival at my cabin? Equally gorgeous!