This morning we got the bus back to Vladimir, then the train further east to the heartland of Russia to meet the great River Volga which runs down to the Caspian Sea and has long been part of a trade route between Europe and Asia. The tribes who lived here in medieval times were conquered in the C13th by the Mongol-led Golden Horde, descended from Genghis Khan, then in the C16th Ivan the Terrible razed the two resulting khanates and claimed the land for Moscow.
Our first stop is in Nizhny Novgorod which has been always been a major trading centre and in the C19th housed the country’s main fair. It was said that St Petersburg is Russia’s head, Moscow its heart and Nizhny Novgorod its wallet. In Soviet times, it was named Gorky after the writer Mazim Gorky who was born here, closed to foreigners and then chosen as the place of exile for Andrew Sakharov the dissident physicist.
It’s another grey and drizzly day and only about 13 degrees and the area round the station was drab and shabby. We took the tram which crossed the River Volga to the old town and brought us close to the Sergievskaya Hotel. We had booked a very smart looking room and were expecting a suitably smart exterior, but this is Russia, and we finally noticed this discrete entrance! We were welcomed inside by a lady who communicated by google translate, checked us in and took our breakfast order. Once inside, as previously, all was well and yes we have a lovely room.
One of the reasons for being here is to make a trip by hydrofoil, this time on the Volga, to Gorodots, a picturesque town known for its folk art. We followed the path down towards the River Station, through what on the map appeared to be a park, only to find it was a badly broken and precipitous footpath down a gulley to the lower part of town ending in steps and wheeled bins and our enthusiasm with Nizhny Novgorod was reducing by the minute.
Despite the size of the River Station building facing some very grim looking chaps in the square …
…we found it hard to work out where to ask about the hydrofoil but found a tour office where we were told ‘nyet’ – so that’ll be no then! We don’t know whether the season has finished, the hydrofoil no longer exists or is broken or what, but I guess Gorodots will remain a sight unseen by us.
By now it was around 6pm, we had pretty much skipped lunch and we checked out a couple of places to eat on the riverfront which was looking just as inspiring as a seaside town on a grey winter day in England … with no veggie fare on offer at all. Not wanting to return the way we came, we followed the road round the edge of the kremlin then up a flight of steps to what is obviously the main part of town, and far more promising.
We found a Georgian restaurant serving those tasty Russian pizzas and salad, and after a couple of glasses of Crimean red, it wasn’t seeming so bad!
Next day was sunny! We had a lovely breakfast served in our room then went off to explore to see if it all looks better than yesterday.
We walked into town …
… and began with the kremlin which dates to 1500.
Most of the buildings within its 13 towers and 12m walls are government offices, but there is a remembrance park, Cathedral and viewpoint over the Volga.
We then walked a kilometre round the walls from tower 1 to 10, with more views and a Robin Hood experience for Chris.
Being by the Volga, we remembered this painting by Ilya Repin in the Hermitage showing barge haulers on the Volga …
and it even comes with a song that was sung by barge haulers …
Funny how some tunes just keep popping up … so this one was later used for the heroic tale of a Cossack leader Stenka Razin who threw a kidnapped Persian princess overboard from a pirated ship on the Volga to prove to his crew she hadn’t turned his head and was even made into a film …
… and then pinched by the Australian band The Seekers to make ‘The Carnival Is Over’ one of the top 50 best selling singles of all time, but goodness knows why! Incidentally, also remembered by Chris but he says he didn’t buy it!
We found a Ukrainian restaurant for dinner, full of girls in pretty costumes, and hoped it wasn’t going to be another touristy mistake. All was well, with a very good veg stew for Chris and I tried pike caviar.
One thing we had hoped to do in St Petersburg, but didn’t quite manage was to visit Ziferblat, a Russian idea whereby you pay for time spent in a shared space rather than by what you consume. The first Ziferblat was opened in Moscow in 2011, the branch in NN has been going for 5 years and there is even one in London now. Usually translated into English as anti-cafe, they prefer the phrase free-space. Maria showed us round, explaining their concept is to resemble a Soviet shared flat where there would have been a communal kitchen and different people living in the different rooms. One has the character of Babushka’s room, a grandmother who had met Chekhov and saved memorabilia of him. You can choose which room you sit in, have a coffee, use the wifi, borrow a book to read or board game to play, meet up with friends or work colleagues or possibly attend one of their regular events such as breakfast, a film, talk or recital. On arrival you choose a clock to keep with you, in case there is more than one person with your name and I chose Fin. We had coffee and cookies and took some photos. It was a shame we couldn’t stay longer as it was a very friendly and comfortable environment – if we were local we certainly could see ourselves as regular visitors!
k
There are museums in town but we opted for something a little more exciting – if we can’t have a ride on the Volga, we’re going to cross it instead! The cable car takes 13 minutes to travel 3.6km across the Volga to Bor on the other side and at 80m high in the middle, we got great views.
There wasn’t much to see in Bor apart from advertising for the football…
…and the huge memorial to the Great Patriotic War …
but we had a chance to try domestic ice cream rather than foreign imports – the price was as reasonable as the colours and flavours were psychedelic and I’m sure Chris chose the gaudiest!
We headed back to town …
… and we ended up walking through a residential area, definitely of the Soviet era where the apartment blocks were arranged round community areas with a park, nursery and local shop.
Finally to the station to catch our 9.30 train in plenty of time. The train is huge with over 15 carriages of different classes. We have a snug 4 berth carriage with Chris and I having berths on top of each other on one side and a young chap on the other side! Once we were on our way we were brought our pre- ordered dinner of stew and rice then it was time to get our heads down. It’s a 9hr journey and we’ll arrive at 6.15 in Kazan, around 400km further down the Volga.
Off Travelling Together 