‘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:

 

A Slice of Real Russia 2: Real Moscow

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Den Pobedi, Gold Train (Accidental Spy Russia Adventure), Gorky Park, Moscow GUM, Moscow Kremlin, Moscow Museum of Cosmonautics, Moscow University, Moskva River boat ride, Red Square, Russia, Saint Basil's Cathedral, The Earth Shifter, Victory Day, videos about Moscow, Yury Gagarin

We are continuing our multimedia Russian adventure through stories, pics and vids. Today, we’ll be watching several very cool vids from our friends at the Real Russia Video Blog. What I especially like is that these are authentic Russian life vids. And another interesting thing is that both Sergeys live in Ufa, located in the Ural Mountains next to Siberia, and this is their virgin visit to the capital of Russia (to be sure, they came back for later vids). All this brings a certain sense of discovery to the Moscow experiences through their fresh eyes. Enjoy!

A Stroll Around Gorky Park – May 9, 2013, Victory Day (Den Pobedi)! One of my fave episodes: How people in Russia relax and enjoy themselves. So nice and sunny over there – it was snowing on May 9 here, in the Catskills, NY. Where did I go wrong? 😉

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Zero Kilometer & Red Square. Red Square hardly needs an introduction. Experience first hand the unique energy of this place through the eyes of Russians visiting it for the very first time. Zero Kilometer is a point from which all roads in Russia begin. It is a symbolic marker located next to the Red Square, at the very beginning of Moscow’s, and all of Russia’s, principal street, Tverskaya Ulitsa. The historic Tverskaya runs from Red Square through the entire Moscow, turning into the highway to Saint Petersburg on the city’s outskirts. This famous street plays an important role in my books, THE EARTH SHIFTER and GOLD TRAIN.