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Normally I would say a gallery such as this doesn't deserve mention, but I thought many of our friends might be interested in how we (and most Russians) live. Rustem received this one bedroom apartment from the government after more than a year of haggling with Russian State Television for reimbursement of our expenses in connection with him being shot in 1993. They couldn't come up with the money, but gave us this flat instead.

Previously, we always lived in the center of Moscow in either corporate or rented apartments, while we rented this one out. I was in total shock the 1st time I visited here. The "before" pictures really don't capture the horror of it. We renovated the apartment from floor to ceiling using two Ukrainian guys who didn't even have a ladder. Everything is imported - from the door hinges & knobs, to the paint.

Technically in Moscow, it's a hell of a long way from the center in a relatively newly developed area of the city that's already more than 170,000 strong. It's tiny - about 600 sq. ft. with 330 livable sq. ft., and still difficult for me (Susan) to adjust to, but by Russian standards we're fortunate.
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Our lovely neighbor complained about noise from our air conditioner so we had to pay to move it 10cm (less than 4 inches).
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Our lovely neighbor complained about noise from our air conditioner so we had to pay to move it 10cm (less than 4 inches).

  • Kitchen stove, oven & dishwasher, to the left of the oven. Everything's kind of miniaturized for these small apartments, but we do have everything.
  • Washer-dryer combo in the kitchen. It's very small & since there's no vent to the outside, it takes an incredbily long time to run a load (approx. 2.5 - 3 hours). We run it non-stop & we're fortunate to have a dryer as few people do.
  • Frig & utility closet/pantry. People are quite amazed at my "ingenuity" in designing a pantry that provides space for an ironing board. Ah, you know us Americans...
  • Opposite side of the kitchen.
  • Rustem in our finished kitchen.
  • Everywhere, throughout Russia, the hot water gets turned off for 3 weeks in the summer, different neighborhoods at different times. Believe me, boiling water for a bath, dishes, etc. is no fun. After numerous attempts to install a small boiler, with every company telling us it was impossible, we finally succeeded in 2007. Not the largest capacity, but when the hot water goes off, we have water that's practically boiling.
  • Rustem in front of our Moscow apartment. (10.2007)
  • Our car in front of our apartment building. Those metal boxes are garages, which, fortunately, were removed by the city. (10.2007)
  • The forest near our building.
  • Skiing in our local forest (2007)
  • Nearby supermarket just before it was completed.
  • People in our area were very happy when we got a McDonald's. NOT!
  • Our lovely neighbor complained about noise from our air conditioner so we had to pay to move it 10cm (less than 4 inches).
  • In November 2008, a bomb went off in front of our apartment. Our good German windows survived the blast, others weren't so lucky.
  • Damaged car after the bomb blast.
  • Blown out windows.
  • Our apartment building entrance with blown out window behind the drape.
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