May update

Well, it's been more than a month since I last posted here - and a lot has changed in the city. The trees are are full of leaves now, there are flowers everywhere, and when it's sunny the temperature hovers around 77-81 F (25-27 C). The only form of precipitation we've had has been in the form of rain :) We had a lovely thunderstorm today - the first one I've experienced in Moscow! I even got to see a couple of lightning strikes above the Kremlin Wall as I was waiting for the downpour to stop. I absolutely love thunderstorms! Right now, the temperature is perfect - it's cool enough to have the windows open all day and all night. I definitely like this proper Spring. Summer temperatures can hold off for quite a bit longer, I'm in no hurry to have blazingly hot days!

One of the best things about this time of year in Moscow is the length of the days. While we don't have the White Nights here like St. Petersburg (where it literally doesn't get dark until 3am), we do have quite long days. Today the sun rose at 5:15am (according to Yandex - no, I wasn't up early enough to witness it!) and it set at 9:35pm, although  it wasn't fully dark until about 10:15pm. I'm still getting used to it, and sometimes it feels earlier than it really is because it's only been dark for a couple of hours. From what Yandex shows for sunrise and sunset times, every day the sun rises and sets 2 minutes earlier and 2 minutes later - that means that by then end of the month the sun will be rising before 5:00am and setting after 10:00pm! I like having days that are so long - it makes it much easier to catch a good sunset, and it's nice to leave work at 9:15pm and have it still be light out.

Keep checking back for new posts - I've got a few in the works that I just need to add pictures to and then I'll post them. I've got posts for Victory Day and the 75th anniversary of the Metro :)