Russian culture for body and mind

On October 17th, before our theater visit, we made a little detour to the рынок (market). There you can find everything your heart desires, especially for your stomach. For example, you can buy a variety of types of meat; thousands of spices; different types of tea; fresh fruits and vegetables; traditionally Russian baked goods, such as лаваш (lavash, a type of flatbread) and пирожки (pirozhki); and live fish and crayfish from large aquariums. If you prefer something sweet, you could buy chocolate in various variations on the second floor, right next to a beautiful coffee stand.

After everyone had filled their stomachs, we went to the theater together to watch The Nutcracker ballet.

Ballet is an integral part of Russian culture. We also noticed this during our visit to "Теамр Оперы и Балема" (Theater for Opera and Ballet). The audience consisted of people of all ages, from very young girls who would have loved to dance along, to the oldest grandparents.

The stage design was breathtaking, diverse, and very classic. There were many changes between the different scenes, which made the ballet even more vivid and captivating. A lot of effort was also put into the costumes.

It was unusual that during the ballet, there was often a lot of applause and the dancers were even rhythmically 'cheered on' by the audience. Also, at the end of the performance, you can give the dancers a bouquet of flowers if you particularly liked it, which is not common in Germany.

A Russian ballet is definitely worth seeing and actually a must if you are in Russia.

Katharina Wolf