271:An Indian summer?

They say that the sun always shines on the righteous but this year it is finally shining on me. One or two nice days in UK last week, before the St Jude's day storm broke on Sunday night, and now it looks as though we're going to have an Indian summer (бабье лето) here in Russia. 
I've just looked on the weather forecast for the rest of the week and had my enthusiasm dampened. After today we're not due to see the sun again for at least the rest of the week. Never mind. такова жизнь!
Here are a couple of photos of churches I came across in my travels around the city. The first one is a Roman Catholic cathedral and the second one isn't!
On this day in 1961 the Soviet Union tested a thermo-nuclear device - at 58 megatons the largest explosion ever recorded.
This leads me nicely to my song for the day: Barry MacGuire singing "on the eve of destruction". I think perhaps we were. Maybe we still are.

270:Oh what a beautiful morning

What a wonderful bright and crispy autumnal day here in Cambridgeshire. There isn't a cloud in the sky. A very quick blog today so I can get out and do some work in the garden while there is still the opportunity.

269:The "real" Russia?

I commend to you this superb article from the New York Times describing some of the villages on the road from St Petersburg to Moscow.
A journey through a heartland on the slow road to ruin.

268: Art for art's sake

One or two blogs ago I complained about the eyesore that is graffiti. Today's first photo shows that graffiti is not yet endemic and people are taking some very positive steps to brighten up their environment.
The second and third photos help to illustrate the marvellous autumnal weekend we are experiencing. The sun is shining and people are out in their hundreds and thousands walking in the parks and taking the air - before winter engulfs us.
Finally, a view from the other side of my apartment (in English you can't say a view from the back side as it has a completely different meaning. See picture 5!)

Today's song: Art for art's sake from 10 CC.

267: A pot pourri

Pot pourri.
A few pictures from my week in England.

This reads "check front of train"!! Does that mean even the station staff don't know where it's going!	The things you see when you haven't got a gun! No monk(ey) business here
One of us is concentrating really hard.	50 pints donated. In theory eligible for the gold medal. In reality one of them was donated in Scotland, which is a different country so doesn't count towards the total.
The London skyline from Blackfriars railway bridge	For somebody not keen on heights this bridge was once a challenge. Now, thankfully I am almost blasé about it.