Yesterday was the summer solstice, which results in the longest period of daylight for locations in the Northern Hemisphere. For central Russia, that means a really, really long day. In fact, here in Vladimir the sun barely set last night--it was still greyish twilight at midnight, and the sun was already coming up at 3am. In more northerly cities like St. Petersburg and Murmansk it never gets dark during the few weeks around the summer solstice. Fortunately, I'm not bothered by the fact that is brilliant daylight at 4am (my roommates in college were always amused that I slept with the curtains open and the sun blasting in on my face), but it does kind of mess with your body clock. You look outside and notice that it's still daylight and assume that it's still early, but then you look at your watch and realize that's it almost 11pm and you have to catch the last bus home--this has happened to me a few times. The super-long daylight hours facilitate lots of partying at dachas and strolling with friends in the city, and it definitely is a nice treat after the long, cold, dark winter (when it gets light at 10am and dark at 4pm).

The stretched-out daylight has facilitated more than just partying and relaxing, though. In 1941, Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union at 4am on June 22, opening WWII's brutal eastern front. Last night, I went with some friends to Victory Square here in Vladimir, where there was a little ceremony. Unfortunately it was raining and pretty chilly, so there weren't many people, but it was moving nonetheless. Here's a picture I took: