I can see food in almost everything before me. A dog’s nose for an olive, crayons for sweeties, a poodle for candy floss and the list goes on.
The problem with this object-food response is that it makes me think about food 90% of the day. Even if I’ve just eaten and I’m not hungry all these stimulants soon make my inner voice scream ‘Feed me! Feed me! Feed me!’ It’s the struggle of two selves battling against each other.
To date, my biggest test has been Russia. I saw so many Russian buildings in and around St. Petersburg and Moscow that reminded me of desserts in giant-sized portions. From ice cream to trifles, and from cream buns to five-storey weddings cakes, the list was endless. Each candy-coloured landmark set my sweet tooth into party mode for the entire trip. So I ate, and I ate, and I ate.
By the time I got back from Russia my skin was a mess and the top button of my jeans had burst open. Okay, maybe that’s an exaggeration, but you get the picture. I’m still trying to undo the damage. But I might just embrace it instead. It’s certainly easier. Plus, with the days getting colder and winter soon approaching it will be useful in case we have a really bad winter and I can’t leave the house. That’s not likely to happen with climate change but let me have my excuses.
So viva wobbly bits! Viva curves! And viva cake!
Now here we go. Here’s my silly list of Russian buildings that look like gigantic desserts.
St. John the Baptist (Chesme Church) – Barbie Wedding Cake
Address: Ulitsa Lensoveta, 12, St Petersburg. Architectural style: Gothic Revival. Additional info: Easily one of the cutest churches I have ever seen!
Cathedral of Christ the Saviour – A White Wedding Cake (With a Little Bling!)
Address: Ulitsa Volkhonka, 15, Moscow. Architectural style: Russian Revival
Church of our Savior on Spilled Blood – Soirée of Ice Creams
Address: Griboyedov Canal Embankment, 2б, St Petersburg. Architectural style: Romantic Nationalism.
Read more → The Beautiful Church of Our Savior on Spilled Blood
St. Basil’s Cathedral – Fairy tale Castle Cake
Address: Red Square, Moscow. Architectural style: Russian and Byzantine. Additional info: UNESCO Site. It’s easily one of the most famous Russian buildings in the whole country.
Kanzan Cathedral – Upside Down Trifle
Address: Red Square, Moscow. Architectural style: Russian
Read more → My First Impressions of Moscow
Bonus treat
Just in case these Russian desserts didn’t take your fancy. How about this one I stumbled across in Lodz, Poland?
Alexander Nevsky Cathedral – Cupcake with Original Flavoured Icing
As you might notice, this church has a very ‘Russian’ appearance. This is because Poland was part of Russia in the late 18th century. The country was divided into three parts and shared with Prussia, and Austria. Prussia got the northern portion, Austria got the southwest, and Russia got the largest portion; including Warsaw.
You might also like: Russian cuisine: a tasty introduction
Which one made your mouth water?
15 responses
Ha, this was great! Giant-sized portion church desserts. I will go with St. Basil’s Cathedral as my favorite because – well, cake! They are all very beautiful and your food references are very funny, Shing. I highly don’t see a “fat girl” in you, my friend. A dog’s nose as a juicy olive, huh? Too cute 🙂
St.Basil’s Cathedral doesn’t even look real does it?! Ooou yes, a juicy olive. You see it right? 🙂 Hope you have a lovely weekend Mike!
Loved how you looked at these amazing structures with a different eye, it’s great! I’d have looked at these buildings thinking at their stunning architecture (which is very interesting for me) but I like your approach too, it’s nice to see things in different ways it opens imagination and creativity I guess.
Hi Franca! Haha, don’t get me wrong, foremost I looked at them for their stunning architecture, but Little Miss Sweet Tooth was thinking about something else…
Definitely the Barbie wedding cake!
That’s my favourite too! It wasn’t favourite church, but it was my favourite building! It’s so dreamy….
Cupcake please! I’m having cupcake cravings recently..
I’m having one now! boohoo sobsob
Now that you mention it, I do see the dessert in all the buildings! I never thought about it before but now they all look like giant gingerbread houses waiting to be eaten. I won’t look at buildings the same way now.
Let’s do a Hansel and Gretel tour of Russia! Minus the bad witch!
Oh I was away for too long. What a colourful buildings! It is amazing how the culture so close to my own seems so exotic 🙂 I love Orthodox Church buildings, they always look like from fairy tale. And gold, they are always gold!
Hi Ola, nice to see you here again! They do look exotic don’t they? So dream-like. Indeed the gold, my eyes always wander to where the gold is!
Loved the way how you wrote the blog post and great photos of those colourful churches, etc. in Russia.
Hi Jean! I’m happy you enjoyed reading about my edible take on Russian architecture 😉 thanks for visiting!
Watching a doc with my 10 y/o daughter about the 2013 Chelyabinsk meteor explosion. Thought I’d look up some of the neat architecture for her. We both got a kick out of this. 🙂