St. Petersburg, Russia never ceases to amaze me. Today is the first snowfall of the year. For the past three years it has snowed on or before October 15. Even though the first snow is somewhat late in comparison with past years, it has come with great force. At the end of the day there is probably two inches of snow on the ground. The radio announcer said that there were over 500 traffic accidents reported on this first day of snow.


The pictures of the first snowfall were taken at the Sestroretsk Tool Works Factory outside of St. Petersburg. The factory was started by Peter the Great in 1721. The snow remained on the ground for over a week. The summer sun and warm weather are already missed.

We took some good friends out for dinner this evening at a Greek restaurant called Olivia. The food was spectacular. It had been a while since the four of us had hung out and talk. The evening was a lovely time. Dana our friend’s oldest also joined us for the dinner.

After dinner we hit a local coffee shop for a quick dessert and some tea. The pastries and drinks were tremendous. By the time we left I could hardly walk. I was so stuffed from such great food that I could hardly move.

Christmas Card Pictures and the Traffic Police

Today is the day for my company to take its annual picture for the Christmas card it sends out to clients, investors and friends. As we arrive to the Neva River for the picture taking I notice a large group of (traffic) policemen who are also getting their picture taken.

In Russia there are two kinds of police: traffic police and civilian police. The traffic police have the right to stop cars indiscriminately to perform searches, check documents, or to generally harass drivers. Most of the time they are looking for a hand out which they usually extract with ease if somebody is found to be missing a document or has violated a traffic law. There are at least five documents that each driver much carry on his person at all times. 1. Technical passport on the vehicle. 2. Technical inspection paper which states that the car is running well. 3. Insurance. 4. Title for ownership. 5. Driver’s license.


Notice the type of vehicles these traffic policemen are driving. They must do quite well for themselves. Hey, maybe they are sending out Christmas cards to their investors? :-)

This is one area that you all can pray about. Paul writes in 1 Timothy 2:1-2 “First of all, then, I exhort that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.” Please pray for the authorities in St. Petersburg that they would turn to the Lord and forsake their evil ways.

The Fontanka River…


This autumn has been spectacular in St. Petersburg. The weather has been warm, sunny, and dry. Normally September is the beginning of the rainy season, but we have enjoyed more sun than usual.

The pictures are taken from our balcony which overlooks the Fontanka River. It is one of the largest canals which flows through the city center. Our apartment building is located toward the end of this canal near the docks so the houses are not as decorative as ones closer to Nevsky (main street), but they are still a lovely sight.

One interesting note: Alexander Pushkin lived for a few years in one of the apartment buildings across the canal from us.

Wedding Photos…

At first glance the top two pictures on this page just seem like standard tourist shots of a St. Petersburg monument. Read on to find out more about Russia’s special tradition.

It’s a long standing tradition in Russia to take pictures at famous monuments throughout the city on your wedding day. Ramona and I were out on a date walking the Neva River when we came up to the statue of Peter the Great. What fun it was to watch the brides and grooms file up to the statue one after another to get their pictures taken. Three older men with a trumpet, trombone and a tuba went around playing the wedding march looking for a hand-out or maybe just an extra glass of champagne.

Aaaaah… it wasn’t so long ago that Ramona and I were newlyweds. While it has been a few years now, she is still my lovely bride. The same night I snapped this picture of my bride in front of the famous sphinx on the Fontanka River. This is only a five-minute walk from our apartment.

Fountains-a-flowin'


Coming home from work this week I hitched a ride from Irina, a colleague of mine, who was coming back into town. She didn’t drop me off at my usual spot. Instead she took my to the Finland train station which is close to where Ramona and I first rented an apartment in St. Petersburg. Recently the city government remodeled the square in front of the station. Here are a couple of pictures of the fountains at night and an old picture of the square during the day before the installations of the fountains.

John 4:14 “but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst; the water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." (RSV) How’s your fountain flowing?

Please try calling again…

For the past year the St. Petersburg telephone system has been getting an overhaul. Several numbers have changed and for a while it seemed like every week telephone numbers were changing. The most noticeable change was that every number which began with 1 was changed to a 7 and so began my funny story.

While at work I needed to call somebody whom I hadn’t spoken with in over a year. I located the number in my address book and proceeded to dial 162…. and so on. Soon a voice came on telling me that this number was no longer in service and that the first three digits had been changed to 762. No problem right? WRONG! After dialing the number again the same voice came on telling me that now I should dial 575 in place of the 762. What this the end? NOPE. Yes, you guessed it; my new found friend was back on the line telling me that the number was now 498.

This is a true story. The Word says in Matthew 7:7, "Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” (RSV) The persistent seeker and knocker are the ones who get the reward. I can’t remember, but I think the person whom I was trying to reach was out.

Hello, Operator!

It's me.