Vladivostok, Russia - New photo of our home there

My dear friend, Vladimir Alexandrovich, was in Vladivostok; look at the picture he sent me today. This was our home for 19 months of our stay in Russia. It was our home, and yet it has changed, as things usually do. The upstairs neighbors put in a little balcony (complete with wrap-around advertising), and downstairs there is a music/video store. There is also new graffiti, but of course, after ten years away, what can I expect?

Ours was the first building with the four windows; the closest window was in our office, the second was our kitchen, and the last two were in our living room. This building is typical of the old pre-Stalin buildings of Russia. It was 1890-something (I have a picture somewhere that shows the date, now covered by the little enclosed balcony), and surely it was very grand in its day. I believe these buildings were in the original, elegant part of the city, overlooking a little inlet of the large bay which had a wonderful beach. We loved the beach there; when we would get discouraged or overwhelmed with our duties, we would take a break and walk down to the bay, and along the water - renewing our courage and clearing our minds.

In some ways, I'd like to see it all again, but I am quite sure this will not happen. Everything changes, anyway.