Ah, That Traditional Yet So Modern Minsk (#Belarus Travelog in Cool Photos)

Tags

Belarus, Minsk, photos, Russia, Russian Empire, sightseeing, Travel, travelog, USSR

LADA’S INTRO: Dear friends,

The world events we are experiencing are very rattling and often negative. Sometimes we all need a rest from the troubles of the world we are all carrying on our shoulders. I feel driven to infuse a more positive feel into our common space on Patreon. I want this to be a place where we can share a smile, and I want you to come here not only for earth-shifting revelations and heavy-duty geopolitical analysis, but also as a place where you can mingle and get to know your fellow members. A place, where we reach out not only to the higher dimensions, but also to each other… As you know, we do Spiritual Spa, which I’ll probably make into a Special Feature, but I also love to travel and explore. Don’t you?

This is one of the reasons I am inspired to post my Patreon patrons’ travel impressions on special occasions and/or during holidays. Stanislav sent me these awesome pics from Minsk, Belarus. We also have the impressions from Seeker’s visit to Agroprom Expo in Moscow. I just love their different perspectives! And we might do more of these during Holidays!

My impressions from vising Minsk a few years back: The capital of Belarus is a lovely city, both traditional and modern. It’s very quiet, clean and orderly, compared to many other places I’ve been, if overcast most of the time. 😉 Yet things do happen there. Belarus is very cheap and is probably a good place for a quiet, relaxing getaway. They do have some rather advanced spas, where they cater mostly to Russians, or those who can afford them. They are quite cheap for foreigners (at least that was the case a few years back), but maybe not so much for Belorussians. 

Enjoy our COMPLETE FREE PHOTO POST!

 

To join LADA RAY PATREON GO HERE!

 

‘The Earth is empty without you’: 56 year anniversary of #Gagarin 1st flight

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1961, April 12, Cosmonautics Day, first man in space, Russia, USSR, Yury Gagarin

April 12 is celebrated as the Cosmonautics Day. Yury Gagarin’s first flight into Space took place on April 12, 1961, 56 years ago.

Lovely song, ‘The Earth is empty without you’ – ‘Опустела без тебя Земля’ (alternative name for this song is «Нежность» – ‘Tenderness’ – meaning the tenderness of the stars).

After his maiden flight Gagarin became the most famous and recognizable man on Earth. Yet, he remained incredibly humble. A small excerpt from Gagarin’s interview – eng subs:

 

Raising Chi Against Hatred: The Suppressed Story of Russian Songs that Unite World Cultures

Tags

1980 Moscow Olympics, Alexandra Pakhmutova, Alla Pugacheva, Bulat Okudzhava, cheburashka, contemporary Russian songs, Farewell of Slavianka, friendship, Katyusha, Lev Leshchenko, Love, Muslim Magomaev, peace, Russia, Russian culture, Russian movies, Sochi 2014 Olympics closing ceremony, Soviet music, Soviet Union, USSR, Viacheslav Tikhonov

Reblogged from FuturisTrendcast

That’s it! I am sick and tired of all the negativity, confusion and fighting going on between people and countries in this world! I declare a CHI-RAISING POSITIVITY DAY!

This is the post that will remind those who have forgotten, and open the eyes for those who have never heard it before. Simply put, below are some Soviet songs that are beautiful and famous in their own right, performed by some of the best voices you’ll ever hear. But there is something else about these songs that catches the eye: by their very existence they UNITE people, cultures and countries. The unique culture I am proud to have been born into had succeeded in performing a miracle no one else had been able to accomplish. At least for a short while we managed to unite different cultures in friendship and cooperation, instead of hatred and war! And that, in my book, IS the highest accomplishment this entire human civilization was ever able to achieve!

Since the Russian realm is such a UNIFYING force in the world, this is exactly why the West/NWO  is itching to destroy it. Don’t believe me? Read and listen below – and judge for yourself! Perhaps those of my readers who are non-English speakers will easily recognize these gems from their childhood. The reason I am also confident my many English-speaking readers won’t know the songs below is because there always was a full-scale blockade of the Russian culture in the West, also referred to as the Iron Curtain. The reason the Iron Curtain was necessary was because the Russian ideas of friendship and cooperation were always too popular for the liking of  the West. If such ideas took hold and people all over the world suddenly stopped fighting, how would they divide and conquer?

Warning, this is NOT American pop – this is live, positive, highly calibrated singing! Note: designation “Song of the Year” was given in the Soviet Union to the best songs written that specific year in the entire Soviet space.

In the Soviet Union, the ugly civil war based on pathological hatred taking place today in Ukraine, or in Nagorny Kharabakh (between Azerbaijan and Armenia), or such as was the 2008 war between South Ossetia/Georgia, or the frozen conflict between Moldova and Pridnestrovie, would have never happened. And if someone tells you that Russians oppressed other nationalities in the USSR, don’t believe such complete and total BS. I was there. It was, in fact, the other way around – Russians promoted every possible and impossible national minority, well before it became politically correct to do so in the US and EU. Sometimes, Russians did it to their own disadvantage.

But don’t believe me – just listen to the songs and watch videos below. Once you do, everything will become ‘crystal clear,’ as they say in Russia.

MEGA PARADE OF POSITIVE RUSSIAN SONGS THAT HAVE THE POWER TO UNITE!

Our Parents’ Home (the beginning of all beginnings) – ‘Родительский дом, начало начал.’ This is one of the lyrical gems from the 1970s. Performed by the famous buttery voice of the Soviet/Russian stage,Lev Leshchenko, originally from Ukraine.

Nightingale Grove – Лев Лещенко, Соловьиная роща. (Nightingale is the national Russian bird). One of the famous songs of the 1970s. Older, but still popular, Lev Leshchenko singing in 2008. Russian lyrics

Echo of Love –  Song of the Year 1977. Эхо любви – Performed by Polish singer Anna German and Russian singer from Ukraine Lev Leshchenko – Анна Герман и Лев Лещенко

Lyrics: “And even in the land of the crawling darkness, beyond the circle of death, I know we won’t part – we are an echo, we are an echo, we are each other’s eternal memory.”

Hope – Надежда, Song of the Year 1975 – Polish singer Anna German, who was equally loved in Russia/USSR, singing the famous Russian song. Анна Герман…

Read full post and listen to lots more awesome Russian songs on FuturisTrendcast!

Visit my Russia pages for more

Famous Soviet songs, Contemporary Russian songs and Russian movies

My Updates: New Gold Train Description and Paperback Launch

Tags

Author Lada Ray, blog tour, E-book, Gold Reserve of the Russian Empire, Gold Train, Goodreads, Jade Snow, May Day, paperback, Russia, Russian Civil War, Russian Empire, Soviet Union, USSR

Hello, everyone!

My Internet is still down, but today I am sitting at the Latte Lounge in Oneonta, a 30 min. drive from my home, to catch up on all my Internet activities.

Other than this one piece of aggravation, everything else is moving along swimmingly, and I am happy to report that GOLD TRAIN Paperback Launch is well on track. I have lots of exciting news to share with all of you today!

The official GOLD TRAIN Paperback Launch is April 25.

April 25 is also the start date of the GOLD TRAIN BLOG TOUR.

This is NOT your average blog tour! We packed it with very special features and one-of-a-kind events:

There will be two cool feature articles:

JADE SNOW: Savior or Seductress @SheNow.org Blog

Fact and Fiction in GOLD TRAIN @LadaRayBlog

On May 1, Author Jason Sullivan of Different Outcomes Blog and I are preparing a rare and candid interview, in which we’ll discuss the Russian Civil War and its implications, the history and current state of the Russian royalty and what went into the creation of the unique character of Jade Snow. In addition, we’ll talk about what it was like growing up in the Soviet Union, my childhood experiences riding Russian trains, and how May 1 (May Day) was celebrated in the USSR. I am hoping to include a couple of exclusive photos. Don’t miss this one-of-a-kind event!

You can find all up-to-date info about the tour here: https://ladaray.wordpress.com/blog-tours

All about GOLD TRAIN, as well as other books and projects can also be found at my official author website:

 http://www.LadaRay.com

To kick off the GOLD TRAIN launch with a bang:

Both Gold Train paperback and ebook (as well as my other books) will be on huge sale on Amazon starting on April 21! Please go to

https://ladaray.wordpress.com/blog-tours

for all details. Or you can go directly to Amazon.

PLUS, we are planning a giveaway on Goodreads on April 24: GIVING AWAY 2 AUTHOR SIGNED PAPERBACK COPIES OF GOLD TRAIN!

Please stop by my Goodreads page for all the updates: http://www.goodreads.com/author/Lada_Ray Look under upcoming events.

It’s free to sign up and who knows, you may be the winner! If you decide to open a Goodreads account, make sure to stop by my page to say hi, become my fan and add me as a friend!

If you miss this particular event, don’t fret! There will be 2 more chances to win a GOLD TRAIN ebook or paperback. There will be 2 more giveaways:

1. 1 SIGNED PAPERBACK COPY & 1 EBOOK at Kimba the Caffeinated Blog on May 3

2. 1 SIGNED PAPERBACK COPY & 3 EBOOKS at Lada Ray Blog on May 6

Complete info about these and all other Blog Tour events: https://ladaray.wordpress.com/blog-tours/

To learn more about my books and other porjects, visit http://www.LadaRay.com

On another happy note, the GOLD TRAIN paperback will come out with a slightly modified cover, compared to the ebook version. I’ll try to post this new cover on my blog soon.

The GOLD TRAIN paperback will include exclusive sneak peek and excerpt from DRAGON GATE, the next Jade Snow adventure set in Asia!

I also have a new Gold Train description, which will be featured in paperback edition, and soon will also appear for the ebook version.

Especially for my blog readers, here is the preview of the new description:

GOLD TRAIN, A Thriller

Jade Snow Russia Adventure

This story is based on true historic events

1918, Russian Civil War. The entire Gold Reserve of the Russian Empire vanishes without a trace. But what if it’s about to resurface? And what if it’s about to be used to shift the global balance of power?

Today: the world’s largest treasure; dangerous adventure; forbidden passion, defying time and space; conspiracy that threatens to plunge the country into darkness.

International journalist, wife and mom, Jade Snow, travels to Russia to reconnect with the country of her ancestors and investigate tantalizing mystery of the Gold Train. What she doesn’t know is that she is about to land in the midst of a deadly conspiracy threatening to change the fate of one of the world’s most powerful nations, and that she is destined to meet a mysterious stranger who will change her life forever.

As her only Russian friend gets murdered, Jade finds herself embroiled in a net of intrigue, glamour and alien ideals on these strange and unfamiliar shores. On top of that, she becomes more popular than she’d ever bargained for. So popular, in fact, that it could be hazardous to her health. And she deals with this dangerous and unwanted popularity in a way that is guaranteed to surprise even the most seasoned reader.

Refusing to be a pawn in a struggle of forces beyond her control, Jade must choose between her worst friends and best enemies… and the future of the world just might depend on her choice!

So you could compare, here is the current ebook description:

For the fans of The Da Vinci Code & National Treasure comes this gripping new  mystery/thriller based on true historic events!

1918: Civil War in Russia. The entire Gold Reserve of the Russian Empire vanishes without a trace. But what if it’s about to resurface? And what if it’s about to be used to shift the global balance of power? Today: The world’s largest treasure; dangerous adventure; forbidden passion defying time and space; conspiracy that threatens to plunge the country into darkness.

Jade Snow travels to Russia to investigate tantalizing mystery of the Gold Train, instead, she finds herself a pawn in a struggle between forces beyond her control. Running is not an option as commitment to solve a murder makes her play the deadly game. Jade must choose between her worst friends and best enemies, and the fate of the world just might depend on her choice!

What do you think? I’d appreciate your opinions about the previous and the new descriptions. I am inviting you to post your comments, as well as questions and suggestions, in the comments section.

More exciting updates soon! Till then, stay tuned 🙂

Cheers and happy reading,

Lada