Moscow Ducklings

"Before you could wink an eyelash Jack, Kack, Lack, Mack, Nack, Ouack, Pack, and Quack fell into line, just as they had been taught. Mrs.Mallard led the way into the water and they swam behind her to the opposite bank."

This phrase by Robert McCloskey from his book "Make Way For Ducklings" is surely well familiar to every child from the USA. In 1991 Soviet children also got an opportunity to get acquainted with these funny characters: Barbara Bush presented them the bronze statue of the Mallards family — the exact copy of the one located in Boston, MA, where the plot of the book takes place.

Unfortunately, the history of Moscow ducklings reflects the whole poor social and economic situation in the USSR and Russia in 1990s: according to Wikipedia, the first bronze duckling was stolen the next night after the statue was set up, three more ducklings were stolen later in 2000.

On September 18, 2000, several companies that are listed on the metal plate behind Quack helped to completely restore the statue, so now we can enjoy it again!

P.S. The pond Moscow ducklings are going to swim in is Novodevichiy Pond ("New Maidens' Pond" is word-by-word translation of this old Russian name), it is located near the walls of the famous Novodevichiy Monastery you can see on the opposite bank.

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Europe / Russia-Urals West

Lat: 55° 43' 41.76" N
Long: 37° 33' 19.8" E

→ maps.google.com [EXT]

Precision is: High. Pinpoints the exact spot.

Hardware: Pentax MZ-5, MC Zenitar-K 2.8/16, tripod Vanguard AK-3.

Software: ControlPoint 1.1.4, Panorama Tools, Photoshop CS, Pano2QTVR Pro 1.6.6.