Every summer until he was 15 Anton would visit Russia. This would be a long break involving trips to either Moscow or St.Petersburg, and then onwards to visit his family in West Siberia. Anton's Mum, Nina, was brought up in the town of Biysk near the Altai Mountains (these are about as high as the Alps, but cover an area roughly the size of Britain and not far from the borders between Russia, China and Mongolia).

 

Anton would spend much of his time with his Grandmother Masha and Grandfather Slava living in their wooden house ("izba") next to the lake in the village of Vershinino. There he might be joined by his Aunt Lena and Uncle Volodya and his cousins Oskar, Masha and Anya for a good bit of fun (swimming, boat trips, fishing), some work (haymaking, picking mushrooms in the woods, milking the goats and feeding the livestock) and some more serious activities. "Serious" activities included eating lots of raspberries and catching the odd hedgehog.

 

Anton's family in Russia have many happy memories of their times with him, and even though they have now grown up, still remember him as their little brother who came every year to see them.

 

Anton also has cousins Natasha and Denis and Aunt Olga in the town of Togliatti on the River Volga, as well as Aunts Tanya and Valya and his cousins Dasha and Katya in Kiev, the capital of the Ukraine.