Washington Monument - Washington, D.C.

Washington Monument – Washington, D.C.

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Hi Folks,

I took my chances with the Agency and visited Washington D.C briefly. I could not believe my eyes when I saw this beauty. I always thought that my old pal, Viking Leif Erikson and my acquaintance Christopher Columbus were the first people to discover North America but surely I was wrong. I also thought that Asterix and the Great Crossing is a fictional comic book but little did I know. René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo should be respected as great historians as they were the first persons to reveal the little known historical event: Gauls discovered the New World in the year 50 BC. How amazing is that! I am still not convinced that Asterix and Obelix are real historical persons but the Gauls who visited North America must have had magic potion which gave them superhuman strength. Otherwise they could not have been able to build this c. 555 feet (169 meters) tall obelisk. In 1889 the obelisk was named Washington Monument to commemorate George Washington. George was a little bit petty and I am sure that he would have wished that the nation had built something gigantic in his honor instead of renaming a historical site after him.

-Gart

Tenerife - Canary Islands

Tenerife – Canary Islands

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Hi Folks!

It was a bit chilly in Dublin; Madrid was mildly breezy; Tallinn and Warsaw were wintry; but St. Petersburg was just freezing. The Agency was on to me. It made me want to move my dancing feet. So I took refuge in Tenerife. Now the sun is shining and the weather is sweet. To the rescue, here I am in Canary Islands. And I want you to know ya where I stay.. ..

Monday morning, here I am
Wednesday morning, I tell myself a new day is rising
Friday morning, here I am
Want you to know just where I stand

When the morning gathers the rainbow
Want you to know I’m a rainbow too   #BobMarley #SunIsShining

-Gart

Tenerife - Canary Islands

Tenerife – Canary Islands

The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood - St. Petersburg, Russia

The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood – St. Petersburg

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Hi Folks!

Or would ‘Privyet droog!‘ be more appropriate. Listen to the official soundtrack for the post here: RussianFrontier.

Some claim that the image of the Wild East filled with countless assassinations is a myth generated primarily by western media and agitators in social networks. Well, this may be news to you but the Wild East is reality in St. Petersburg and to the east from there. Alexander II, the former emperor of Russia, was assassinated and the grieving Russians built this church as a memorial right on the spot that was stained by Alexander II’s blood. The church is called the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood. The Russian tradition to build a church on a crime scene has apparently been limited only to the blood of royal family. I would assume there being little hope that a church will be built on Bolshoi Moskvoretsky Bridge where Boris Jefimovitš Nemtsov was shot.

-Gart