With Christmas coming soon, auntie Olga has kindly decided to offer some more pearls of wisdom and advice on Christmas gifts ideas for expatriates living in Moscow and for anyone else in living abroad in other countries. Being a mother of ten children, she knows all about buying Christmas presents. Olga is also an expert on beauty tips and can offer the ladies some secret tips for maintaining their looks. When you are an expatriate abroad, away from your extended family of mother, father, brothers, sisters, cousins, nephews, nieces, aunts and uncles, it can be hard to know how to send them as a Christmas gift if you are unable to make it back home for Christmas and if they are unable to make abroad to see you in your temporary country of residence.
It's not so easy to send parcels from Russia but you can always buy some traditional Russian craft and take to them home next time you fly back. There are also many other options for sending gifts back home and auntie Olga will give you some suggestions. So hold onto your hats, take a pill of laughter, a pinch of salt and maybe get some good ideas for Christmas from our resident oracle, auntie Olga.
Russian craft gift ideas
Studio Nemolyaeva Anastasia- Furniture, gifts, interior designed studio and workshop Anastasia Nemolyaeva Skalník Benjamin. The designers are from Russia, Italy, England, Belgium and Holland. In addition, they have a great selection of toys Oksana Yarmolnik. Orders are taken via the web site daily, 24 hours a day, a manager will contact you to confirm your reservation from Monday to Friday, from 10:00 to 19:00. (The text is a Russian translation)
Contact the studio by email or visit their website however you may need to use Google translate if you don't speak Russian or ask a Russian friend to help you.
Christmas tree decorations: In Russia, you can buy wonderful handmade wooden Christmas tree decorations. They are beautifully painted and very original. They are nothing compared to the vulgar glass and plastic tree decorations that you can buy in most shops during December. You can always buy these and post them back home using a courier service or take them back home next time you fly home from Russia. For examples see Russian crafts. You can buy these from most tourist shops and from the market mentioned below.
Contact the studio by email or visit their website however you may need to use Google translate if you don't speak Russian or ask a Russian friend to help you.
Christmas tree decorations: In Russia, you can buy wonderful handmade wooden Christmas tree decorations. They are beautifully painted and very original. They are nothing compared to the vulgar glass and plastic tree decorations that you can buy in most shops during December. You can always buy these and post them back home using a courier service or take them back home next time you fly home from Russia. For examples see Russian crafts. You can buy these from most tourist shops and from the market mentioned below.
Izmailovsky Park and Market- Traditional handicrafts are an indispensable part of Russian culture. They contain the centuries-old but future-oriented experience of aesthetic perception of the world, preserve deep artistic traditions that reflect the authenticity of cultures within the multiethnic Russian society. Handicrafts are both an industry and a branch of folk arts. (The text is a Russian translation)
How to get there: The area is easily accessible by Metro. Travel east of the city center on the "dark blue" line to the Partizanskaya station. Exit the station and follow the crowds, walking left out of the station for about 300 meters. You will walk past a large hotel complex on your left before you reach the market, and you will also walk through a small outdoor market area where vendors sell mostly clothing and snacks, before you reach the Vernisage entrance. The Vernisage requires a 10 ruble payment to enter, a smile is extra. If you reach the area by car or other means, and are unsure which way to go, just look for the buildings that look like old Russian architecture, with onion domes and lots of wood. That is the Vernisage and Kremlin. Most drivers know which area tourists want to go to, and will take you directly to the Vernisage entrance.
It maybe be hard, expensive and impossible to post such items back home unless you can ask an expat friend to take a small box with them on the plane home next time they leave Russia. The Russian postal service is very much like the British postal service and has the habit of delivering your parcels somewhere else, broken, late or not at all.
However, These traditional Russian gifts are a must have and you can always empty your wallet at the open air market and take your new gifts back home with you next time you fly back home. Anyone who spends a few years living in Moscow, cannot leave the country without a carpet, painting or wooden handcrafted painted box or egg.
For anyone that is either busy, lazy or lacking in ideas for Christmas gifts and whose family live in the United Kingdom, you can always use an online service. If like me, you prefer to sit at the computer, with a large cake in one hand an coffee in the other, you can relax at home and take the stress out of physically shopping. You can surf the web, choose all your gifts and just enter in your credit card details. Shopping should not be stressful or exhausting, let your computer and your fingers do the work. Don't strain yourself.
One wonderful online service is the British store Marks and Spenser's. M&S have a wide range of nice gifts for everyone. You have to register on the site and they accept most credit cards. You can designate the delivery day. Choose from wine, chocolates, clothing, beauty products and lots of others things. They deliver on time and have a wide range of prices. Everyone loves M&S. You can order from any country and your family and friends in the United Kingdom will receive their presents to their front door almost anywhere in the United Kingdom.
Olga's best suggestions
For him & her: For the man or woman who loves life and who loves adventure and fun, why not try an adventure day from Virgin. If you cannot decided what experience to buy them, simply buy them a voucher and let them choose their own gift. They can have an experience of a life time, all paid for by you.
For the kids: You could just send a present to your little nephew or niece back home but why not be more imaginative and buy them an experience. Buy a red letter day experience and make them never forget such a happy day. These experience days are more imaginative than Lego, flowers, socks or soap. Let them talk to sheep, ride a hippo or spend a day in a tree house adventure land.
Olga's gifts for all
Don't just limit your experience ideas to your husband, wife, girlfriend, boyfriend or kids, buy your grandma, boss or friend an experience that they will never forget. As they sit up in their hospital beds with a leg in plaster, surrounded by get well cards and grapes, they will never forget your special adventure gift and will one day thank you for it.
Grandma will remember with affection, the day she did her parachute jump when she landed on the farmers cow shed roof and fell through into the cow manure below, your little nephew who always breaks your kitchen plates when ever he comes to stay, will fondly remember the day he reached speeds of up to 130 kilometers an hour on that winter Olympic bob slay run in snowy Austria. Your wife will always be grateful for that cooking weekend in windy Wales and will have new recipes to cook for you when you get home from work. Grandpa will never forget his bungee jump in the rain off of the Eiffel tower, when his pacemaker briefly stopped and when he spent the night at a hospital surrounded by those beautiful nurses.
A gift experience will never be forgotten, so make sure your nearest and dearest have a Christmas gift they will never forget as they wake up at night on cold flash back sweats, plotting the gift they will give you for next Christmas. Perhaps you will go on a helicopter trip into a volcano, ride naked on a wild horse through the forest or go up one way in a hot air balloon and see the earth from space.
Olga's top tips
For the wife, mistress or girlfriend: Buy your wife or girlfriend a romantic bottle of sparking white wine, bubble bath or chocolates, after all most normal women love sparkling wine, bubble bath and chocolates. Save that special gift for your other girlfriend or mistress, buy her some sexy underwear from Agent Provocateur or a weekend away in Paris or buy her a pair of chocolate liqueur flavored knickers.
For the kids: Buy your daughter or son, a mini vacuum cleaner and cooker and send them on a one day cookery baking course. That way when they at are a little older and aged about seven or eight, they will be able to help you with the housework and cooking. A present should be educational not just for fun. Educate them for life, not just for Christmas.
For the husband or boyfriend: Buy your husband or boyfriend an electric drill, tool kit or domino set. These presents will make a welcome change from the aftershave, DVDs, wine, beer or fun computer games. Why not buy your man a one hour Thai massage or pay for a weekend away at a luxury spa.
For the grandparents: Buy your old grandparents a will making set or pay for a professional probate lawyer, as you never know what the future holds and you would not want them to be distressed later when it comes to planning your money. After all, private schooling is very expensive these days so help them plan ahead. They won't need an old folks home and can just live in down in your cellar. Send both grandparents away on an all expenses paid luxury cruise to Somalia where they will enjoy the sea air and see real pirates. Note: It may be an idea to take out life insurance on them prior to the trip.
Have a wonderful Christmas and happy shopping.
Related stories see: Russian craft, Izmaylovo market, Ask auntie Olga
Related stories see: Russian craft, Izmaylovo market, Ask auntie Olga
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Haha, that is a hilarious picture up top. I'm digging this Aunti Olga character!
ReplyDeleteDont you been what an attractive lady?!
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