Flemish art

Following my own recommendation from our weekly digest, I visited the Hermitage Museum this month to see a couple of new exhibitions that have recently opened there, one of them being ARS VIVENDI (“The Art of Living”). Though I didn't expect much of it, the display turned out to be top-notch. It can boast a thoughtful space game, a chic black-and-gold palette, an impressive collection of 17th-century Flemish still life paintings, as well as a few lovely details here and there, such as various objects arranged to create actual “still lifes” – and a comprehensive guide to what different flowers mean in the artworks on display.

It's been a minute since I saw something so grand at the Hermitage and Flemish art wasn't ever my favorite section, but this exhibition hands-down made me have a change of heart. – Marina

Christian lore

It’s been a while since I’ve realized that many cultural pieces I come across – from paintings in the Russian State Museum to stand-up specials on YouTube, have references to the Bible. And given my shamefully poor knowledge of religion, I’m probably missing out on half of the fun!

To put an end to my ignorance, this June I’ve joined a free summer course on the fundamentals of Christian faith. It’s been only three classes so far, but I’ve already learned a lot (the first thing I was surprised to learn is that the Bible is not just one but 66 books) and I really appreciate the educational approach to presenting information. Cherry on top, the course takes place at Jaani kirik, so each week I get to commute through my beloved Kolomna. – Elizaveta

Mobile gaming

Recently, I’ve been housesitting a couple of cats, and that has meant leaving a few everyday faves at home, including my trusty PS4. Without a gaming PC at hand, I’d only have an iPad for my digital entertainment! Thankfully, at the last-minute I decided I should grab a gamepad – just in case.

See, I remember the golden age of mobile gaming back in the days of the first iPhone; but, it seemed, microtransactions heralded the end of exciting handheld experiences. Today, however, it looks like the growing power of our smartphones and tablets is encouraging the return of fulfilling mobile gaming. Apple users like me now benefit greatly from the Apple Arcade service, which offers, among others, some great action titles (like Cypher 007), point-and-clicks (Return to Monkey Island), and racing games (Asphalt 8). But my favorite was the recent release Star Wars: Hunters, a cute Overwatch-esque team battler with ingenious character designs. All of the aforementioned titles feature controller support, which means no awkward screen-tapping; and that, for me, is a game changer (pun intended). – Vadim

Classical music for regular people

Who knew that a symphony is an audiobook and TikTok is inspiring a new musical form? This month, I discovered lectures about music by Anna Vilenskaya, and it blew my mind how much I’ve been missing. The videos are in Russian, but the lectures are unpretentious and should be easily accessible to any learner at intermediate level and above – and there are handy subtitles (including English auto-translations), too!

Growing up in St. Petersburg, it was a given that you went to the St. Petersburg Philharmonia as a kid or on dates or as a family outing, but it’s also true that classical music can be considered somewhat snobbish. Your job as a listener is to not show up in jeans and not cough. But Anna takes you on a journey through music history and theory in a way that is both thrilling and educational, and lightyears away from snobbish. I didn’t think I’d ever put “music” and “makes sense” in one sentence, but there it is. The magic is still there, it’s just multidimensional now. – Anna