Category: Main article

Novodevichiy Convent (Nunnery) is one of the most beautiful Moscow
convents. By studying its history we discover many facts about the history
of the State, which is extremely interesting.

It was founded in the early 16^th century. Its
main cathedral was consecrated in honour of the Smolenskaya Icon of the
Mother of God Hodigitria. According to the legend, St. Luke himself painted
the icon, and it is closely linked with the convent’s foundation.

So Great Prince Vassily 3 founded the Novodevichy Convent in 1524 in
honour of the seizure of Smolensk. The Convent stood on the road leading
to southwest, in the direction of Smolensk, a small town 300 km away from
Moscow.

The convent is like a miniature Kremlin. Its cathedral church was built
with the Kremlin Cathedral of the Assumption as a model, perhaps by the
Italian architect Aleviz Fryazin, and in 1525 the copy of the Smolenskaya
Icon was placed in it. The convent’s fortified, toothed walls and
the towers were added at the end of the 16^th
century in the reign of Boris Godunov, and their design was also based
on the Kremlin. In the 17^th century the towers
were decorated with splendid tracery crowns.

It was the richest convent in Moscow. Noblewomen of the time became noviciates
in it- wives and widows of the tsars and boyars, their daughters and sisters
– and on taking the veil they handed over their jewels, pearls,
gold and silver. Women were secluded into this convent for several causes:
either if they couldn’t get a divorce, which was impossible at those
times, or if they became widows, also if they were to be devoid of their
political rights, like it was the case with the sister of Peter the Great.
It was here in 1689 that Peter the Great confined the intelligent and
power-loving Sofia, who did not wish to concede the throne to her brother
after he had attained adulthood.

The same fate was in store for Yevdokia Lopukhina, the first wife of
Peter the Great and mother of Tsarevich Aleksei. In 1727 she was brought
here from the Shlisselburg Fortress in St. Petersburg after Peter’s
death, and not long before her own. Both of Peter’s relatives are
buried in the convent’s Smolensk cathedral.

It was here, in the Novodevichy Convent, that Boris Godunov was «summoned
to kingdom» in 1568. In the fire of 1812 the convent was nearly ruined.
At the beginning of September numerous French soldiers were billeted here
and later on Napoleon himself visited the place on horseback. Without
dismounting he looked round at the convent and gave orders for the Church
of John the Baptist to be blown up, then he departed. On the night of
8 October the French troops were getting ready to retreat. Before leaving
they stuck lighted candles on the wooden iconostases and threw them on
to the floor where they had scattered straw everywhere. In the cellar
of Smolensky Cathedral the nuns discovered open barrels of powder with
smouldering fuses. With only seconds before a terrible explosion, the
nuns managed to put out the fuses and prevent a fire in the convent.

A picturesque pond with ducks just near the convent makes it a wonderful
place.

Novodevichy Convent has been witness to many historical events in its
time, but it managed to go through it, endure it and not only preserve
but also multiply spiritual heritage with centuries.

After the revolution the convent was secularised, then it housed a branch
of the State History Museum. Today it’s a convent with 2 museums
but it has been given back to the church.

Edinburgh is making big efforts to entertain shoppers in the weeks before
Christmas. It also plans to lay on what it claims to be the world's
biggest Hogmanay party to welcome in the New Year. The Christmas illuminations
will be switched on from Nov. 28, and there will be a German Christmas
Market with more than 20 traders from Frankfurt, in Princes Street Gardens,
which will also be the site of the Edinburgh Wheel (until Jan. 5) – the
UK's tallest ferris wheel.

For the 10th successive year, Edinburgh's Hogmanay is a four-day
programme to say farewell to the old year and welcome in the new (Dec.29
-Jan.1). Among the free highlights are the Torchlight Procession and Fire
Festival, the Night Afore Fiesta (Dec.30, with massed pipes and drums
and the world's largest ceilidh, a Celtic-style party), the Hogmanay
Triathlon, and Huskies at Holyrood.

The vast Royal Bank Street Party (Dec.31) is free, but entry is by pass
only: get one by joining the First Foot Club (£15). As well as entry to
the party, this offers the holder discounts in shops and attractions,
privileged booking for ticket events and a chance to enter members-only
competitions. To join, call the First Foot Club membership hotline (0131
473 2056) or register and buy tickets on
the website.

Whitechapel is considered by some to be the heart of the East End of
London and over the centuries has hosted Jewish settlers, Irish dock workers
and Bangladeshi workers in the 'rag trade'. It’s a street
market right opposite the Royal London Hospital, and you’ll come
on to it from Whitechapel underground station as you exit from it. The
road is so-named because it led to the white chapel of St Mary Matfelon,
made from white stone around 1250. In the 19th century, Whitechapel Road
was the most important market in the area.

So what can you buy there? It is run predominantly by Asian traders and
this is sometimes reflected in some of the goods on sale e.g. sari material
and herbs and spices. You can find bedding, jewellery, clothing, tools,
fresh fruit and veg, electrical goods – all sorts, open six days a week
from Monday to Saturday from 8.00 until 18.00.

A space team in Canada is looking for three people to help pilot a rocket
into space. This is part of a competition modeled on the 1927 contest
to fly across the Atlantic Ocean, won by Charles Lindbergh. Canadian Arrow
is one of two Canadian teams participating in the contest. Another 20
international teams are also racing to send the first manned commercial
rocket into orbit. The first to get their three-person vessel 100 kilometres
into space and back wins the title. The winner will have to repeat the
flight again within two weeks to win a $10-million US prize. Geoffrey
Sheerin, the leader of the London, Ont.-based Canadian Arrow project,
said he is looking for smarts, a sense of adventure, and bravery.

“It's open to absolutely anyone. The possibility for anyone
to fly is there,” Sheerin said. “We would like you to have some
aeronautical experience, understand of aviation, and also hopefully to
have some knowledge of rocketry.”

Cardiff, home of the Millennium Stadium, city of so much more.

Sight seeing buses leave from outside the castle regularly throughout
the summer. However a tour of the Stadium costs £5 and can be pre-booked
and is a must. The highlight is a trip up the tunnel to the pitch with
the sound of the crowd roaring in your ears. I defy anyone to take these
steps without a silly grin!!

The shopping in the city provides all those shops you expect in a large
town, although there are a surprising number of music shops. However,
the old arcades off St Mary’s Street offer some interesting alternatives
to the large chain stores. I always show friends the “Kinky”
boot shop for a laugh, which can be a stunned silence!

On a hot summer’s day, the place to chill is Butte Park with some
of the best municipal planting I know. Or there’s the Mill Lane
quarter, for people watching while you chill.

There are a range of restaurants, wine bars, pubs and clubs to suit everyone.
And if you like a busy town, go on an International weekend, but be prepared
to sing!

source: Woody’s Travellers Watch

Travel@woodyswatch.com

It's great to see more and more business travellers using 'Outlook
Web Access' (OWA) on the road. This is a webmail way to access corporate
mail systems using Microsoft Exchange Server.

When you open OWA in a browser it looks much like normal Outlook. You
can read, delete, reply and forward email plus manage your contacts, calendar,
notes, tasks and public folders. There are some limitations (you can't
move a message from one folder to another) but it works pretty well.

If your company uses Exchange Server but you don't have Outlook Web
Access, ask your network administrator. OWA is installed by default on
Exchange Server so it's probably ready for you even if the network
gods haven't told you. If you're sneaky you can try finding it
from a browser linked to your intranet by trying urls that have a company
server name plus '/exchange' (the default folder) such as http:///exchange (e.g. http://mailmachine/exchange).

Outlook Web Access can be used inside a company network too. If you're
away from your work desk or computer has broken you can access your mail
from any browser. But OWA is mostly used by staff accessing mail from
outside company premises. Provided your mail server is accessible from
the Internet you can use OWA from any net terminal anywhere in the world.

The link to access OWA will probably be different away from the intranet,
something like http://mail.dagg.com/exchange but your network gurus will
give you the exact link.

However you access OWA you'll be prompted for your login name, password
and possibly domain. This not only gives you access to the company mail
server but also tells Exchange Server which mail account to display.

Security Tip: when you're using OWA from any computer not yours make
sure you DON'T check the 'Remember this password' box. If
you do so anyone could access you email from that public terminal after
you walk away. When using someone else's computer on your intranet
the same thing applies, you don't want someone else looking at your
email.

With OWA available from anywhere, you might not have to lug your laptop!
If you don't have much email or it's just a short trip then many
business people have decided to leave their laptop computer at home and
just check their email at public Internet terminals (cafe's, hotel
business centres and some airline lounges).

The remains of four woolly rhinos have been unearthed in an English quarry.

Scientists describe the group find at Whitemoor Haye in Staffordshire
as “extraordinary” and one of the best Ice Age discoveries of
its type in Northern Europe in recent years.

In addition to the great beasts, researchers have also dug out a remarkable
range of superbly preserved plants and insects. One of the rhinos even
has plant material still stuck to its teeth, giving possible clues to
its last meal.

Taken together, the specimens should enable archaeologists to build up
a detailed picture of what life was like in this particular corner of
the UK 30-50,000 years ago.

“We'll be able to piece together the whole Ice Age environment
in that area by the banks of the River Trent,” said Simon Buteux,
director of the field archaeology unit at the University of Birmingham.

He told BBC News Online: “The plants in particular are beautifully
preserved – they look as if they were buried last week quite frankly.
And in amongst them are remains of beetles which are very sensitive to
the climate, so this will give us good clues to what the local environment
was back then.”

The initial woolly rhino (Coelodonta antiquus) discovery was made by
quarryman Ray Davies, who pulled up a massive skull in the bucket of his
digger.

Gary Coates, a University of Birmingham archaeologist, said: “I've
been working at Whitemoor Haye Quarry for five years and have excavated
everything from prehistoric burial grounds to Roman farmsteads, but this
find was totally unexpected.

“It's the biggest find – in all senses of the word – I've
ever been involved with.”

Meeting news from our branches around the world.