Lake Baikal contains some 20 percent of the earth’s lake and river water, making it comparable in volume to the entire Amazon basin....
BITS ‘N’ PIECES
The oldest and deepest of the world’s lakes, Lake Baikal is situated in south-east Siberia. The lake is more than 5,300 feet deep at its most profound point. With 12,248 square miles of surface area, Baikal averages 2,442 feet deep - its crescent moon-shaped figure a vast rift valley that first appeared about 25 million years ago through the divergence of the planet’s crust.
Lake Baikal contains some 20 percent of the earth’s lake and river water, making it comparable in volume to the entire Amazon basin. Baikal is so huge that it reportedly takes an average of 330 years for a single water molecule to flow through it, from inlet to outlet. Lake Baikal features 27 islands, and is home to more than 1,500 animal species, about 80 percent of which not found anywhere else on the planet.
The most famous of these animals are the nerpa, the only exclusively freshwater seal on the planet. Brown bears and wolves dwell near the lake, too, occupying the top tiers of the Siberian food chain, as do a variety of deer, birds, rodents and smaller predators.
Its age and isolation have produced one of the world’s richest and most unusual freshwater faunas. Today, a wilderness of forest, plains and semidesert surrounds Baikal in the grand landscape of Siberia.
The development along the shores of the lake occurred last century with the building of several urban and resort communities. Ugliest, perhaps, among the defilements of Baikal’s coastline is a paper mill that discharged pollutants into Baikal for years before being closed in 2008 on grounds of ecological protection. But the mill reopened in 2010, supposedly using cleaner and safer practices than previously.
Winters here are frigid and icebound, with continental cold snaps bringing temperatures as low as minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit and producing a layer of surface ice as thick as two meters. Summertime is friendlier, offering long days and superb opportunities for hiking, biking, camping and fishing.
Throwing the bouquet, rice toss and the father/daughter dance all happen at western weddings; but there is one tradition that most people are not aware of - preserving the wedding cake for an entire year! The origin of this tradition holds a purpose: the bride was expected to give birth within a year of getting married, so the couple would preserve their wedding cake and use it for their child’s christening.
Back in 1947, when Queen Elizabeth II got married, every tier of her wedding cake had a meaning and purpose. One tier was for the wedding there and then, the other was sent as a gift to the guests and the top one was saved and preserved for a future event. The wedding experts guess this is what led to this tradition that is continued to this day.
Until quite recently, wedding cakes were always iced with marzipan and royal icing and that would really preserve a cake. The cake was wrapped tightly in greaseproof paper, stored in an airtight container and kept somewhere cool. When needed, the outer layer of royal icing would be gently removed and the cake re-iced in appropriate colours for the newly arrived child.
