Downtown Charlottesville…It looks like someone just took a bag of Skittles and sprinkled it around…Difference in people, in opinions, in gourmet tastes and in artistic preferences…Lights of the Paramount inviting you to enjoy an ever-changing miracle called Theater…Numerous stores remind me that doesn’t matter how different you are, you can find something to your taste in Charlottesville. Right in the middle of the downtown on the second floor I can see a shadow of the musician and his cello – I can witness how his body moves with inner music, I can see reflection of eternal candlelight that only artists cherish inside. You pass cute little shops, inviting restaurants, daring bars – all of them lined up proud of their uniqueness and individuality. You can almost breathe in an independent strength of mind, breathtaking talent, architecture, and intolerant being of “spirit of the old days” and modernism of the new. I feel like a bystander in this busy university town and I quietly enjoy this role for a couple of minutes. I dive into the remarkable spirit of Charlottesville, its streets and inhabitants…For some reason this little southern city has endless ability to take my breath away with every gracious move. Downtown Charlottesville…Simply charming…

Dust storm in Phoenix…It looks like Mother Nature just all of a sudden got angry with us and decided to bury us under the sand. You can not see anything, can not talk, and can not even think straight. Feels like any second now you will run out of air, because all of the oxygen particles will be replaced with sand… Wind and sand are definitely in cahoots on this – they are beating us up with incredible force, reminding us that Nature is an all-powerful source, and we are at it complete mercy. People walking by looking like sculptures – covered in dust, with faces reminding me of Japanese geisha – white as a snow… Mountains around Phoenix no longer exist – they are gone or so it appears since at this point dust completely filled the air. I feel like sand and dust wrapped me up in hot cover and does no want to let go. Where this dust did came from? Where is it going? Is this a beginning of a new desert or just “new blood” for existing lonely desert somewhere in AZ? Who will decide when it is time to stop and find a new home?
All of a sudden storm is gone; dust disappeared and left behind city wearing thick grey coat. It will take a while for the city to recover from under all of this dust, to come back to normal, to recuperate after this attack by powerful sources of Nature. It will take a while for me to recover as well – I will remember these moments forever – once again I am amazed by Nature, concurred and astonished…

Arizona is absolutely amazing…It feels so peaceful and scarily timeless…Maybe it is because being wrapped up in the desert and facing mountains makes you feel so small, and your problems even smaller. All of the issues become irrelevant; they get lost in the sand, or lost in translation by the wind from the mountains…Everything gets lost…All you see is incredible Nature surrounding you, calming you down with slight wind that still carries whispers of the mountains and smell of plants desperately trying to survive in this inhospitable weather. I close my eyes just for a second and imagine myself as a free bird up in the air, enjoying this view. I do not think that any Human Being will ever be fortunate enough to grasp this powerful concept called Mother-Nature. I do not think that any of us will ever realize how incredibly lucky we are to be surrounded by all this beauty and peace! My peaceful Arizona…Where my heart rests and my spirit wonders…

London…I remember I am European every time I come here. I always feel at ease. I do not have this feeling in America… Even if I just walk around Hyde Park, taking pictures, trying to remember every splash of water, every flower, every moment in it’s original beauty. Hyde Park or Kensington Park - are two parks that you really do not want to leave. Every time I come here, I am able to find a new corner somewhere with it reserved English beauty and quite nature, where only leaves and squirrels make any noise at all…And even that noise is incredibly peaceful. Serene Island in the middle of busy city…Reminds me of Central Park in New York - my Central Park, my sacred place. Busy workers going by, students in crazy outfits, lazy pigeons, loud children, grandmother and grandfathers holding hands almost like last 50 years did not exist…All of it just passing by as you enjoy this park, this moment, this freedom and silences, lost in your own self…