Sunny Day in Moscow: Enjoying the Winter From The Inside

Sunny Day in Moscow: Enjoying the Winter From The Inside

On a unique sunny day, among the past couple of days, I’ve been thinking about the Sun – or the lack of thereof in Moscow and in Russia.

Notorious for its fierce winters, Russia is also one of the few countries where with the Sun in January, you can also count on on negative celsius. While I am writing this post, it is a sunny day and -10 C, and is just the beginning.

Moscow has a unique, cruel beauty to it.

In fact, the cold is like no where else in the world – because this is Russia. If it wasn’t cold, it wouldn’t be right. It would be as if we were living in a parallel universe, or worse even – an absolute ecological disaster. Since the former is, to our knowledge, impossible – I am actually happy it is cold, it means that we haven’t messed up natures equilibrium completely. Overall, I do believe our planet is facing serious ecological problems – there is no doubt about it.

Ecological equilibrium is one of the reasons why I love sunny, cold winter days in Moscow.

Winter in Moscow lasts from mid-November to mid-March. Average low is highest in January, around -9 degrees celsius. This year, around Christian Orthodox Christmas, the temperatures went down to -32 degrees celsius. For those who do not use Celsius scale, this is seriously cold or -25.6 Fahrenheit.

I am one of those people who like to enjoy the winter from the inside – while hugging a blanket and a hot beverage.

I couldn’t find a reliable information about the number of sunny days in Moscow during winter, but from experience I can say there aren’t many! And it’s the time when you are most tempted to skip class and admire the city.

To be honest, this feeling lasts for all of about 5 minutes – until you reach a shadow. Then, even the illusion of warmth is gone and you’re immediately reminded that you are in Moscow, Russia; and that sun doesn’t mean it’s warm.

The next action you take is to scan the area for a cafe, and almost instinctively go for it. Tough luck if you’re short-sighted. Once you find a location, you can go back to enjoying the winter from the inside!

Luckily, White Square (Белая площадь) is very close to the school. As you walk towards Belorussky vokzal and the metro Belorusskaya, you can see the church – simply walk towards it. It is an area with great cafes and restaurants to enjoy the sunny day from the inside!

This post was brought to you by Maja, currently studying Russian at Liden & Denz