This weekend we've been busy trying to rent a summer place - ended up with a little apartment near a wonderful lake in Pushcha Vodytsya, roughly 30 km from Besarabka.

Pushcha Vodytsya would have been impossible in Moscow - so much precious land (and fresh air) wasted, not used to make money, so much stuff deserted, in ruins. Parts of Pushcha remind me of those images I've seen of Pripyat/Chernobyl - and we've only been to Pushcha in sunny weather.

Renting a dacha isn't such an easy thing to do; and it's even harder if you need a dacha with a phone or internet connection - part of the reason we ended up with an apartment instead of a house.

We are hoping to move there next weekend.

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I've started a photo set - here - with pictures of our three visits to Pushcha: May 28 pictures are already posted, and June 3 and 4 will follow soon.

Please keep in mind that I tend to shoot all those gloomy places and largely ignore the pretty flowers and pine trees...