Tag: Russia

Our Russian Revelation – The Finale

elainehayesblog

file-C5773529-04FD-466F-8C74-F782669DD868-5133-0000043EBDFC0ABDSo what did we think of Russia?

Russia has definitely been a revelation! We haven’t seen any reference to the centenary of the revolution, although nostalgia for certain aspects of Soviet life in the themed restaurants and museums of memorabilia does seem in fashion.

There has been more promotion for the football World Cup next year … but maybe that’s how it should be … looking to the future.

Most intersections have traffic and pedestrian lights, both with a countdown so you know how long you have to wait and how long to go and the little green man starts running as your time runs out … and we joked that these were rushin’ Russians! The pace of life, became slower once we left Moscow and we had expected to find everything a little more difficult away from the two main tourist destinations but if anything, we found more people ready to help and friendly.

Just returning to the matter of registering our visa, we never found out if the receptionist in Moscow actually got a registration from our previous hotel, but he didn’t provide us with one when we left and we had managed for the first 10 days and 4 accommodations without it being an issue. From then on, we were presented with a slip in Vladimir as we left, and in Suzdal when we checked in ‘in case we were stopped by a policeman’ but we never saw one, let alone got stopped. So the way it is meant to work is that you get one from each place you stay and hand it on to the next, but while several places have provided us with one, only 2 places asked for our previous one …!  Apparently the system is being suspended for the World Cup, so maybe they won’t reinstate it.

Here are just a few quirky things we’ve noticed … only in Russia:

Charging your electric scooter in a restaurant

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Luggage ramps on steps almost everywhere

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Being charged for an ice cream cone by weight

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Receiving a receipt for paying to use a public toilet

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Being offered a valet stand for your jacket in a restaurant

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Having a price list for damages in hotel rooms

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There is no doubt that St Petersburg and Moscow were the must see destinations, but we feel we had a rounder experience by visiting the other places too.

The palaces and churches have certainly lived up to expectation, and the metro architecture was amazing, but it is the food that has exceeded in every respect. The quality of ingredients, everything being prepared to order and the care taken is obvious pretty much everywhere we’ve eaten.

Chris had a step counter running on his phone and we were amazed to find we’ve been clocking up about 40 miles a week, so hopefully we’ve had enough exercise to work off the dumplings and pies. Some flights of stairs even have calorie counters so you know it’s doing you good!

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And so many domes, mainly gold ones …

… and blue ones with golden stars …

… but also wooden ones …

… and some green ones and multi-coloured ones!

And finally, our favourite eggs …

Just to end, putting our travels on WordPress was a bit of an experiment this trip, and all has gone smoothly, so we are pleased to have found a new home and hope you will join us next time we go Off Travelling Together.

The Volga – Kazan

elainehayesblog

file-3584D804-1626-4016-8774-761DEAEBBCB8-5133-0000041A58404558Kazan is the capital of the Tatarstan Republic, the land of the Volga Tatars.  Here both Church belfries and minarets stud the skyline as Volga Bulgaria adopted Islam in 922 – 66 years before Russia became Christian. When the Bulgarians attempted to convert Vladimir I of Kiev to Islam, he rejected the notion of Rus giving up wine, which he declared was the “very joy of their lives”.

After the destruction of the Golden Horde, Kazan became an independent khanate but was ravaged some 100 years later by Ivan the Terrible, who brought it under the control of Moscow and was quick to build a new city. Architects who built St Basil’s in Moscow which honours the seizing of Kazan, were employed to build the kremlin here and the city grew to be an economic and cultural capital.

Chris found our night on the train a bit disturbed and rattly but I slept like a bug in rug, snug in my top bunk! Kazan station looked very grand and we took a bus to Kazanskoye Podvorye Hostel and were able to check in and leave our luggage even though it was only 7.15. Another huge red brick building here too, the Epiphany Church Tower.  Straight away we noticed more headscarves, a minaret, messages on the bus in Russian. Arabic and English and Arabic numerals on a clock. Also today is Eid al-Adha, the festival that remembers Abraham sacrificing his son so not sure if we will notice anything.

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Nowhere was even open for coffee so early, so we headed to the river port to arrange trips for the next two days. With some help from a couple of Russian ladies we booked one trip for the next day and decided to go to Bolgar today. Fortified with a couple of jam turnovers, we boarded the hydrofoil for a 2 hour trip south down the Volga. The river is wide and the shores lie quite low, green with trees and farmland.

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Bolgar is the descendant of Great Bulgar, the capital of one of the most powerful states of early medieval Eastern Europe. It is now an open-air museum which has become a major place of pilgrimage for Tatars in search of their roots. The unsettled weather has passed and it was sunny and warm and the views of the river were stunning, far better than in the photos.

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There was a brand new mosque by the entrance, then remains of the the original Bolger settlement – a mosque, palace, and mausoleums as well as a later C17th church. We wandered around and ate typical Tatar buns for lunch – Chris’s with curd cheese and raisins and mine with chicken, onion and potato.

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When we got back, Baumana Street had certainly woken up with lots of souvenir shops and street entertainers and after dark the volume increased as small rock groups vied for the biggest audience along the length of the street.

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Fortunately our hostel, despite being central, was quiet and cosy. There is a cafe downstairs and dorms here as well as doubles with ensuite and everyone can share the common areas, use the kitchen and laundry and even have bedtime milk and cookies at 9pm!

We went to Priyut Kholostyaka for dinner, which translates as Bachelors Shelter, a modern cream cave with a green apple on each table instead of flowers! They gave us each a tablet with the menu loaded, complete with photos, so we could choose what we wanted and put the items in our basket. We then rang a bell and the waiter took our order! All worked beautifully with a good choice of veggie delights for Chris and salmon tartar for me – yum!

Next day we left at 7.30 and were given packed breakfast picnics to take on the boat which headed west on the River Volga to Sviyazhsk.

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Ivan the Terrible chose this promontory as his base from which to attack Kazan. He had a wooden fort comprising walls, towers, gates, civilian buildings and even churches constructed upstream then floated piece by piece to Sviyazhsk where it was reassembled in just four weeks, thanks to its pre-fabricated design. Ivan named the new town Sviyazhsk, and after the defeat of Kazan, it continued to grow as an outpost of Christianity and the center of Russian culture, but after the October Revolution, the Bolsheviks destroyed about half the churches and the remaining buildings became a Gulag prison. When the Kuibyshev Water Reservoir was constructed in 1957, the entire area was flooded leaving only the historic downtown above water and Sviyazhsk became a small island, connected to the mainland by a serpentine road. The historic city has since been restored and has just been added to the list of UNESCO world heritage sites this summer and seems very popular with day trippers.

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It was a lovely day to spend looking at the old buildings, munching more local pies and drinking the local fruit drink called mors. There are large crosses showing where destroyed churches once stood.

Just as other places we’ve visited, the main church areas are surrounded by walls and contain a number of buildings – here Holy Mother of God Assumption, which contains first a prison then an asylum …

… and John the Precursor Monastery.

We found out that Sviyazhsk had been vital in the civil war between The White Army and the Red Army led by Trotsky who managed to edge into the stronger position and had directed troops and propaganda from here.

As we walked to get the boat back, we heard music and came across Kazan Radio with some costumed singers and an orchestra performing  opera …

In the evening we went to Dom Tatarskoi Kulinarii for dinner, so I could try a particular Tatar speciality and as they also had a veggie menu for Chris. The interiors are amazing and the waiters wear white gloves and produce your dinner from under a silver dome! I had a salad with Kazilik, a smoked horse meat sausage, followed by a horse meat stew which were both very good, but no different from beef really, Chris had these amazing little dumplings with spinach and carrot called hanuman.

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Finally, despite having been here for two days, we have a chance to see the Kazan itself and began by walking to the kremlin.  The whitewashed wall surrounds a variety of buildings …

The oldest and most familiar landmark being the Suyumbike Tower. According to legend, after Ivan the Terrible seized Kazan, he wanted to celebrate by taking the deposed Khan’s niece, Suyumbike, as his bride. The beautiful Princess Suyumbike initially refused, saying she would only agree to marry him if he could build a tower higher than either of them had ever seen. The conquering Tsar did just that, erecting the spire in just six days. After it was completed, Suyumbike said she wanted to look out upon the city from the high tower. When she reached the top however, the princess jumped to her death. Ivan may have taken the city but he could never have Suyumbike’s heart. Almost certainly only a story, but quite a dramatic one!

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The Annunciation Cathedral was built following the fall of Kazan on the site of a razed mosque …

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… and the newest and most shiny is the Kul Sharif Mosque, built in 2005 and named after the imam who died protecting the city against Ivan the Terrible in 1558.

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The Musa Dzhalil Monument honours a Tatar poet executed by the Nazis in 1944.

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There were good views across the river …

… then lunch was calling so we tried out a Kazan institution, the colourful Dom Chaya, a Tatar tea house where we had pies and salad and really enjoyed the Gubaida pie for dessert, containing cooked rice, nuts and raisins.

We had timed lunch perfectly as the rumbling skies that had been teasing us with sunny spells and spitting rain all morning finally opened and there was a downpour.  Later we ventured out again and peruse the souvenir shops for a couple of last minute purchases.  It had become obvious we were seeing cats everywhere …

… and just wondered if there was a reason.  A quick google told us that the Cat of Kazan is a lubok or woodblock print from the C18th which might be a satire of Peter the Great. The text reads “Cat of Kazan, mind of Astrakhan, reason of Siberia, he lived sweet, ate sweet, and farted sweet.”

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Having said that, cats from Kazan cats which were so famous that the Empress Elizabeth ordered that the best and biggest cats capable of catching mice should be sent to the court. There are still cats at The Hermitage  today. We spotted a cute chap so he can come home with us but hopefully he won’t have any work at 41!

We also picked up some chak-chak which is for sale everywhere – a mound of honey-drenched sweet pastry balls eaten as a a dessert or sweet which was once a ceremonial food brought by the bride to the reception at the bridegroom’s home.

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The Soviet Lifestyle Museum packed with Soviet knock-knacks provided a brief diversion, and although a lot of the items were generic 70s and 80s memorabilia, there was definitely a soviet edge, including Misha the 1980 Olympic mascot.

Maria in Ziferblat in Niznhy Novrogod had urged us to visit the one in Kazan, and finding ourselves close by, we popped in for a coffee and a look round. A slightly different concept but just as comfortable and we were welcomed by Margarita who made us coffee and offered us cookies. We sat and chilled for a while, writing the last couple of journal entries in fact!

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Having fortunately avoided the rain all day, our luck didn’t hold as there was a huge downpour with thunder and lightening overhead as we left the hostel for dinner.  We ducked into a shop for a while and it seemed to be easing, so we set off again.  When it came to cross the road, there was a river running down it, and despite waiting, in the end we went for it and got rather wet feet. Fortunately it was all worth it.


For our last dinner in Russia we chose Khinkalnaya, a Georgian restaurant, mainly because they offer such good veggie options.  I started with salmon caviar, which I ate with a small spoon while Chris had the spinach and walnut starter called phkali.  We each chose a stew for our main, mine lamb and tarragon and Chris a mushroom dish, both of which came in pots.  I started mine first and had several mouthfuls – which were delicious – before Chris put his spoon in his pot, only to find a piece of meat … oops! We queried this with the waitress, who apologised but we had been given the wrong pots … and I had been eating Chris’s dinner! Needless to say I’ve not heard the end of it at any opportunity, as to how I could have confused tasty mushroom stew for lamb with tarragon … I just ate what I was given … and it was after all tasty!

This brings us to the end of our time in Russia.  In the morning we’ll get a taxi to the airport and fly via Moscow and Munich back to London.

The Volga – Nizhny Novgorod

elainehayesblog

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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 …

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…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.

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We walked into town …

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… and began with the kremlin which dates to 1500.

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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.

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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!

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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.

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file-BC4C5A76-3A19-4EEA-B7A8-CC2758F427DA-4264-0000035D54D7744AThere 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 …

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… 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.

The Golden Ring – Suzdal

elainehayesblog

file-DBFFB895-1221-4714-A034-604A55A8CCD5-2733-000001EC62B044BFWe began slowly, as Chris’s cold has developed into a rather nasty cough and he has rather generously shared his cold with me!

We caught the 50 minute bus to Suzdal, and the minibus with a capacity of 40 was crammed to the gunnels! I found myself standing by a reserved seat that wasn’t occupied, and the lady in the next seat said just to sit down! We got chatting and she said she was from Moscow coming specially for the Russian Festival of Spiritual Music and Bells and that was why the bus was so busy.

Suzdal is called the  diamond in the Golden Ring.  A millennium ago, it was the frontier of the medieval Rus, the principality based in Kiev that extended Christianity into Russia by erecting churches and establishing fortresslike settlements. In the 12th century, Suzdal was the capital of a small principality, though that capital later shifted to Vladimir and ultimately the whole region was absorbed by Moscow.  Suzdal was transformed into a major monastic centre during the times of Ivan the Terrible and in the C18th wealthy merchants paid for thirty churches, which still adorn the town, resulting in some forty churches for four hundred families! During Soviet times, it was treated as a museum and churches were not destroyed.

It is also a chance to take it easy out into the countryside for a couple of days and the Suzdal Inn is our home for 3 days, with the traditions of the Russian countryside and all the mod cons of a comfy hotel.

There was bell ringing taking place at the Monastery of St Euthymius so we went to investigate. This large walled complex contains a couple of churches and living quarters for the monks and a huge kitchen garden.

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We climbed up into one of the belfries and saw the bells and the view …

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There were poetry readings and various music being played and then the bells with both the large set in the belfry and the small set being played together …

We should have noticed the sky darkening and before we knew it, the rain started. Despite waiting in the hope it would pass, in the end we just walked back and reached the inn in a pretty soggy state!

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Next day began bright but a bit breezy and we walked into town, passing lots of pretty wooden houses. Some are built like log cabins and called izbas. Some might be dachas, which are country retreats used at the weekend providing a refuge from city life and the chance to grow produce to eat through the winter.

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Stalls were set up in the town square selling souvenirs and also homemade produce like preserves, pickles fresh fruit and berries and honey.

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We walked on passed churches and souvenir shops …

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… to the walled Kremlin which contained the Nativity of the Virgin Cathedral with blue domes sparkling with gold stars. Inside there were frescos of various ages covering the walls, with bible stories and pictures of saints.

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We stopped at Kvasnaya Izba for lunch and I tried Solyanka, a soup of pickled veg, meat and potato and once a winter staple which was delicious.

We looked round the Museum of a Wooden Architecture with a couple of wooden churches and houses …

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… and took a short boat trip on the river before calling it a day as it had got quite chilly.

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On our last day here, we awoke to rain, but it stopped briefly so we could get a walk in.

They make a lot of mead here locally, the type of honey ale drunk by princes of old, and we would have had a tasting yesterday, but didn’t get round to it.  It seemed a bit early for alcohol, so we bought a bottle to try later …

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… and settled down instead to a pot of buckthorn tea to ease our continuing cold symptoms.

Apparently our trip to Russia would not be complete without a visit to a banya, a cross between a bathhouse and sauna, and even to this day, a weekly event for many Russians. We could have visited the very swanky and very expensive Saduny Baths in Moscow,  but chose instead to come to the private banya attached to our hotel here which we had booked for a couple of hours in the afternoon. Leana took us round and explained what it was that we should do.  The parilka or steam room, looking very like a sauna, is heated by a wood-fired furnace up to around 100 degrees and one spends maybe 10 minutes in the heat before cooling down by dousing one’s head from a suspended bucket of water and taking a dip in the tub filled with cold water … or if you are feeling like a wimp, just taking a shower! After drying off, and drinking some tea and resting in the relaxing room, the whole experience is repeated several times over a two hour period.  We also had a venik or tied bunch of birch branches to lightly beat the flesh, to help cleanse the skin of toxins while in the sauna, which were actually very soft.

It was a great experience, with the hot not quite as hot as I expected while the cold was colder!  There was even a pond outside a an alternative venue for a dip, especially in winter when they cut a hole in the ice.  As you will see from the pics, not everyone braved the tub!

It’s been a bit of a shame that we’ve been under the weather while here and for that matter that the weather hasn’t been a little better, but we’ve enjoyed our banya as well as the lovely dinners in the restaurant, with some of the ingredients coming from their own farm, and the staff have been very friendly and helpful.

Tomorrow we leave and are off to The Volga.

The Golden Ring – Vladimir

elainehayesblog

file-CF80A9D0-310F-46A5-9DDA-88EB8864F586-1430-00000119F8CE9CCELeaving Moscow behind, we headed towards the Golden Ring, a string of Russia’s oldest towns populated by people descended from East Slavic tribes of the Kievan Rus and largely untouched by industrialisation, which attract visitors in search of the rural idyll.

We begin by getting the train a couple of hours to Vladimir, a capital of Russia in the 12th century which flourished for less than a hundred years before Tatar-Mogul raids led to its decline and later it was annexed by the Grand Duchy of Moscow.

Having checked in to our perfectly comfortable room at the Vladimir Hotel …

… we walked down the high street, almost thinking this might be Wokingham Town Hall excepts for the bus with Russian on the side!

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On for some lunch in a cute cafe called Pshenichny Kot or Wheat Cat …

… then on to the medieval Golden Gate, part defensive tower and part triumphal arch modelled on a similar arch in Kiev.

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… to the viewpoint …

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… then to The Assumption Cathedral, a white-stone version of the brick-built Byzantine churches of Kiev which stands on a high bluff above the Oka River …

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… beside the Cathedral of St Dmitry …

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whose walls are covered in a confusion of carved images including King David charming the birds and beasts with his music.

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It was built as part of Prince Vsevolod’s palace and the prince appears at the top of the north wall with a baby son on his knee and others sons kneeling round him.

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Walking back into town for dinner, we noticed a statue of the very same prince …

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… and despite having a good look round, couldn’t find anywhere nicer to eat than Pshenichny Kot, so we returned and enjoyed salads, risotto and duck.

Moscow – Metro to the Moon

elainehayesblog

file-08A36EA5-B92C-439D-B1E8-2F4E919A92A1-710-0000008996260F9DWe started with a little metro hopping but found it far harder to take pictures than in St Petersburg.  With around nine million passengers each day, there is never a quiet time, and people move with speed and purpose through the stations easily blurring a photo. The earliest stations under Stalin are the most extravagant, while later stations are a little more uniform and utilitarian, but not without flair.file-69AB1F9D-D969-4A03-AAD6-16BDC01AA45C-710-000000AEFC368400Komsomolskaya is named for the youth workers who helped with construction and had some interesting columns in the escalator hall, mosaic and corridor linking the M1 and M5 lines …

… but then we descended and were greeted with this confection …

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The theme of the ceiling mosaics is the historical Russian fight for freedom and independence depicting various heros but it is the yellow and white decorated Hall,that really has the wow factor.

Next was Elektrozavodskaya, not surprising named after the nearby electric light bulb factory and also featuring reliefs of struggles on the home front during WWII.

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Taganskaya had these Wedgewood like panels depicting various Russian WWII servicemen

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Prospekt Mira was originally named for the nearby botanical garden so has images of figures planting and harvesting and generally living in harmony.

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We stopped off at VDNH which stands for Exhibition of Achievements of the National Economy, a bit of a Stalinesque theme park of pavilions representing all Soviet republics. We had come for the Cosmonautics museum which is in the base of this huge titanium monument erected in 1964 to celebrate achievement in space exploration and depicts a rocket rising on its exhaust plume. Looking up at it again the moving clouds, it looks like it might tilt over!

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It was filled with all things space and lots of models of spacecraft. Chris remembers space exploration from the beginning, but I was a bit young for even the first man on the moon to have made much of an impression in 1969 and was particularly fascinated.  Here is a model of Sputnik, the first craft in space which was launched in 1957 …

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… leading to dogs in space in 1960 …

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… and a man – Yuri Gagarin in 1961 – who went up with the Vostock rocket in this tiny capsule.

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In 1965, the first man left a spacecraft and went into outer space wearing a suit like this …

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… and they landed the unmanned Luna 9 in 1966.

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Kennedy was under pressure to overtake the Soviets in the space race and committed to having a man on the moon by the end of the decade and succeeded with Apollo 11 in 1969 when Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon and Chris remembers waving at him!

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Having lost the race, the Soviets focused on other aims and here is the first craft to land on Mars in 1971 …

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… and the Mir space station, in orbit from 1986-2001, which we went inside – the nearest we will get to being in space!

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We might have walked further into the park, but at that moment the sky turned black and the rain started, so we headed straight back underground!

Novoslobodskaya has art nouveau stained glass panels depicting the intellectual professions with a mosaic called Peace in the Whole World at one end. The portrait of Stalin was replaced by white doves.

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Barrikadnaya with marble in shades of pink and interesting lighting …

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… As did Kuznetskiy Most, our last stop.

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Keeping up the Soviet theme, we went and played at the Museum of Soviet Arcade Games, where we were given boxes of coins coins to play machines from the 1980s and 1990s.  Some to too difficult to figure out without understanding Russian, but it’s not that hard to fire torpedos or shoot rabbits!

When we came out we realised we had luckily missed another of today’s showers and felt very lucky.

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We have come across lots of buskers in Moscow, but returning to the hotel and walking through the underpass in Arbat Street these musicians were by far the best.

Sticking with the definite Soviet theme to the day, we returned to Varenichnaya No1 in Arbat Street.

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We’ve found Moscow a great place to visit, far easier to make ourselves understood and get around than we expected, although we would be lost without google maps and google translate, and it will be even better when it is all beautifully repaved! As to some comments that it is expensive, that depends on whether you can be brave and get yourself about on public transport or rely on the very expensive organised tours.

  • While many people don’t exchange a smile in the street, we’ve found most people we’ve spoken to friendly and helpful.
  • The public transport is excellent with metro trains every couple of minutes and buses every 5-10 minutes, although they get caught up on traffic on the rush hour.
  • There seems to be a huge repaving project with working going on simultaneously all over town causing chaos, but apart from this the city is spotlessly clean.
  • People dress with a sense of style and quite smartly. Lots of tall slim girls, little dresses and high heels about. Pleased to say the gangster rapper style of trouser wearing has not reached Russia yet!
  • The food is excellent – the choice, the quality, the presentation and the value everywhere we have eaten so far.
  • Walking seems to be part of life for Muscovites as they walk purposefully and at speed through the long corridors at metro stations and stride out along the wide boulevards.
  • For those who cannot walk fast enough, there are also lots of wheeled conveyances whizzing along pedestrianised routes, such as bicycles, unicycles, scooters, skateboards  and inline skates.
  • We feel we have seen most of what we wanted to see, although there were attractions that we didn’t quite manage like the Bolshoi ballet or even the ‘Shoot a Kalashnikov Tour’ advertised in our hotel, a snip at £55 each!

Tomorrow we leave Moscow for the Golden Ring …

Moscow – Zamoskvorechie

elainehayesblog

file-30025C59-DD7B-4642-8BCA-EFD3FEEB5C69-460-00000024AEA0016DWe awoke to a grey blustery morning … and then it began to rain. Fortunately, by the time we’d had breakfast it had stopped, but it was quite a bit cooler, which was actually very pleasant. Chris has picked up a bit of a cold, but put on a brave face and soldiered on.

Zamoskvorechie – which means ‘Beyond Moscow River’ – stretches south from the bank opposite the Kremlin. First we stopped at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour which was completed in 1997 in time to celebrate Moscow’s 850th birthday and replaces an earlier Cathedral built to celebrate the victory over Napoleon, which was destroyed by Stalin. A 315m high Palace of Soviets topped with a 100m statue of Lenin was planned for the site, but never materialised and the site was used as a swimming pool for 50 years. The new Cathedral is garish and opulent with gilding but somehow lacking in any heart.

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From here we walked over Patriarshy most which crosses the Moscow River to Bolotny Island, spotting Dom na Naberezhnoy, a prestigious residential block in Soviet times …

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… and the former Red October Chocolate factory, now a vibrant arts centre …

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… as we crossed the island. We took a sightseeing boat from Tretyakov bridge down the river as far as the MOD of the Russian Federation …

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… turned and came back passed the gargantuan statue of Peter the Great which was erected in 1997 to commemorate 300 years of the Russian Navy, and at 98m is the 8th tallest statue in the world.

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Next was the Cathedral again looking sparklynin the sunshine …

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… then the Kremlin and from the river gives a far better idea of how big it is.

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There was a quick peek at St Basil’s …

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… and another view of the Kotelnicheskaya Apartments …

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… before turning into the Vodootvodny Canal to complete our trip round Bolotny Island passing a mixture of new developments, neo-classical restorations and building sites.

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Disembarking, we crossed the bridge …

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… and walked to a vegetarian restaurant called Sok where we had a lovely lunch of soup and warm mushroom salad, Hot Ginger for Chris to help his cold and Buckthorn punch with cardamom and cinnamon which came in a teapot for me. I’ve had this sea buckthorn a couple of times – apparently it is a super food with lots of vitamin C and this is what it looks like …

We made a fleeting visit to the Tretyakov Gallery which has been designed to resemble an exotic boyar castle. The gallery contains the biggest collection of Russian icons and prerevolutionary Russian art.

A distinct Russian icon tradition began with Theophanes the Greek and here is his Our Lady of the Don.

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His student Andrei Rublyov became possibly the best Russian icon painter and his most famous work is the Old Testament Trinity.

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Jumping forward to C19th, The Peredvizhniki or wanderers were the major artistic force.  They saw art as a force for national awareness and social change and included Ilya Repin, perhaps the best loved of Russian artists who painted social criticism, history and the famous and here is Religious Procession in the Kursk Province and a portrait of Tolstoy.

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Returning to the river, we walked past the huge Peter statue and noticed how the decoration of boat helms reminded us of the Rostral Columns in St Petersburg.

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We continued along the Krymskaya Naberezhnaya embankment past some reclaimed Soviet sculptures and a monument to the Victims of the Totalitarian Regime.

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We walked as far as the gates to Gorky Park or officially ‘Maxim Gorky’s Central Park of Culture and Leisure’ which says it all – a huge variety of sports, dance classes and bike tracks as well as regular musical and theatrical festivals and a massive ice rink in the winter. Not that we saw any of it as the sky came over black and we headed instead for the metro.

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Foolishly, as it happens, we made a detour to a phone shop to sort out our Russian SIMs that had stopped working, and the heavens opened.  So you remember all those pavement works … well those together with a lack of Health & Safety and a downpour resulted in people balancing on bricks on get passed of huge puddles that would have swallowed Dr Foster easily.

We got pretty wet on our way back, not good for a chap with a cold, and decided to eat in the hotel rather than venture forth once more!

Moscow – Sergiev Posad

elainehayesblog

file-27177BE3-B914-4BFB-9F8F-C9CF3D04E281-448-000000297E94AAE9The bus to the station took us passed another of Stalin’s Seven Sisters – the Leningradskaya Hotel, now run by the Hilton.

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We allowed loads of extra time after our other train-catching experience but still only made it by skin of our teeth! The ticket was just £3 for both of us for a journey of just over an hour and we sat in a carriage of very ordinary people packed three to a bench. During the journey a steady stream of people came and made their sales pitch to the passengers, everything from work gloves and handy household items to children’s books and bandages. This was punctuated by a busker with an accordion barely discernible above the noise of the train selling his cds.

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Worryingly in times of heightened security awareness, there was also a chap brandishing an 18 inch scythe for all those pesky gardening chores.  There are no pictures of any of this as people really don’t like having their picture taken, unless they are in historical costume and charging!

The blue and gold cupolas offset by snowy white walls are colours that epitomise the Russian perception of divinity. The monastery was founded by St Sergius of Radonezh in 1340 and soon became the spiritual centre of Russian Orthodoxy.  St  Sergius became the patron saint of Russia after his death and pilgrims continue to journey here to pay homage.

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Spruced up for St Sergius’ 700 year anniversary in 2015, the buildings were very photogenic – except I somehow didn’t take a picture of the Trinity cathedral where St Sergius is buried and a constant memorial service is held for him, but let’s be fair, one whitewash church with gold domes looks much like another!

The iconic image, and so I’ve inserted it twice, is of the Cathedral of the Assumption paid for by Ivan the Terrible in a fit of remorse for killing his son together with the well and the Chapel at the Well built when a spring was said to have appeared during the Polish siege.

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We also saw the The Refectory Church …

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The Bell Tower …

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and other views in the grounds …

file-BE1469F8-5D29-425E-973F-D610103AAFD3-448-0000002976492DDBWe had time to stop for a lunch at Varenichnaya № 9 and chose salad to keep up our 5 a day, which always seems so hard when we are away and wandered through the back streets to the station for our train back.

There were several people with huge kegs on trailers selling kvass, a chilled, tangy fermented drink made from Russian brown bread, soaked in water with yeast and flavourings like raisins, honey or mint.  At 20p a cup they were doing a roaring trade on such a hot afternoon and it was really refreshing.

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Happened to notice some signs today … Russia style!

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We tried Katchapuri, another Georgian place for dinner where the piano played and we enjoyed delicious Georgian food in a friendly urban cafe.

With energy remaining, we headed to Red Square to see it lit at night, and although less was lit than we expected, it was still atmospheric.

Moscow – The Kremlin and around

elainehayesblog

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We were prepared for there being lots to see and had bought our ticket online to skip the queue. The word Kremlin means citadel and while The Kremlin is in Moscow, kremlins can also be found in many other Russian towns. We entered through the Trinity Gate Tower …

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… with the arsenal on the left

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… and the State Kremlin Palace built in the 1960s for Communist Party congresses and now home to the Kremlin Ballet.

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Policemen in blue shirts blew their whistles very loudly if anyone strayed where they shouldn’t or if a child climbed on a cannon … and there were some large cannons.

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Walking a little further we found ourselves surrounded by white washed buildings and golden domes. There are three cathedrals and the Ivan the Great Bell Tower.

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The Assumption Cathedral was the most important church before the revolution and all the church patriarchs are buried here, with frescos round the doorway.

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The Archangel Cathedral was the coronation, wedding and burial church of the tsars.

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The Annunciation Cathedral was built by Ivan the Great as the royal family’s private chapel and Ivan the Terrible added six more domes and corner chapels, making it a bit of a warren to look round.

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No photos were allowed in any of the buildings so just to say the frescoes, soaring roofs and gilded icons were beautiful. We also caught a glimpse of the chimneys for the Terem Palace which was closed to visitors …

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… and the stairway down which Peter the Great’s relatives were thrown onto the pikes of the Streltsy guard below, which might explain his dislike of Moscow.

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Last but not least, we walked passed the huge Great Kremlin Palace to the Armoury containing tons of decorated gold and silver, armour and Faberge eggs  – but not as nice as those we saw in StP!

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We returned to GUM for lunch and I finally found pod shuboi on the menu – literally ‘herrings in fur coats’ with slices of herring, beetroot and pickle in creamy sauce.

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We went for a walk through Kitay Gorod, the oldest part of the city. Nikolskaya was pedestrianised in 2013,  and city authorities ordered the construction of a cosy European-style promenade with street lamps, benches and flower beds …

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… and is home to the Synod Printing House where Russia’s first printed book was produced in 1564.

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The very short Tretyakovsky proezd begins with an arch and was built privately by the famous art patrons, the Tretyakov brothers.

file-CE898F08-BF0F-482F-A74B-38CF3E999937-2037-000002C6BB1DFCD1Next the former Detsky Mir (Children’s World) Department Store, once the main shopping center for children in the Soviet Union. Built in a Stalinist-era architectural style, visiting Detsky Mir was the dream of every child and it has recently been restored and reopened. Chris enjoyed it too!

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The building opposite looked interesting too.

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We passed TsUM (Central Department Store), another major Soviet-era shopping center which is now one of the most luxurious shopping malls in Russia.

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Behind is the Bolshoi Theater …

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… and across the road the lovely Art Noveau Hotel Metropol …

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…and then the bus back.

Out for dinner, we went to Mari Vanna and were shown into another cosy interior rather like someone’s front room! A meal of salad and soup then pike cutlets for me and potatoes with mushroom for Chris and very nice it was too.

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Moscow – Pushkin in Presnya

elainehayesblog

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Our hotel is in Presnya, one of the oldest neighbourhoods in town.  Each day as we leave the hotel, we catch a glimpse of a golden dome and today we are going to take a look Church of the Grand Ascension, quite a smart church where Alexander Pushkin and Natalya Goncharova married – I said we would hear more about them.  He died six years later defending her honour in a dual – such passion, such romance! The couple are together forever in the Rotunda Fountain, erected to celebrate the poet’s 100th birthday.

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The house of Maxim Gorky interested me more as it was advertised as an art noveeau treasure than because it was his house, but the trees outside obscured the tiling and we were too early for it to be open …

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Next on the literary trail is Patriarch Ponds which is just a pretty little park with swings for children, a pond to push prams round and benches to linger. It also featured in the beginning of The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov which I started reading … but seem unable to get along with.

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I usually try and find something relevant to read when we travel … but just didn’t fancy Pushkin, Tolstoy Dostoyevsky, Maxim Gorky or even Pasternak among a whole listing of authors, many I’d not heard of. I’m obviously not doing any better with Bulgakov! I had more success with books not by Russian authors, just about Russia like the Madonnas of Leningrad about a woman who helped in the evacuation of art from the Hermitage in WWII, and The Siege and The Betrayal by Helen Dunmore telling of Anna and Anton’s struggle trapped inside the besieged city of of Leningrad in 1941 and later how danger in Stalin’s Russia was never more than a twist of fate away, with Anton being sent to the Lubyanka Prison.  Other books on my reading list include Zoo about the official food-taster for the leader of the Soviet Union and The Bear and the Nightingale, a Russian fairytale but there never seems to be enough time!

Next we took a bus up to the Garden Ring, the road circling the centre of Moscow, where we saw a far more recent addition to Stalin’s sisters and another Soviet mural, this time the 17 Heroes of Moscow.

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We have noticed in our wandering around the city what seems to be a very enthusiastic road cleaning programme and pedestrians beware – until one stops to think how much good it is to spray a fine mist of water with no sweeping …

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I asked google to explain the phenomenon of the road and pavement spraying vehicles, which only seem to get everywhere slightly wet rather than actually washing the surfaces and there seems to be a possibility this is done with the intention of reducing heat in the city or maybe being a scheme that would prove a good employer – see what you think …

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… then to the Museum of Decorative & Folk Art, which was a little disappointing, but we enjoyed their collection of bears!

The temperature was hitting 30 in a mini-heatwave and we decided to pace ourselves especially as we have a big day tomorrow.  Instead, we did a little metro hopping on the way back, stopping at Mayakovskaya where the Art Deco design was based on a Soviet future as envisioned by the poet Mayakovsky. It also has 34 ceiling mosaics with the theme ’24 Hours in the Land of The Soviets’ …

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… and Ploschad Revolyutsii, a dramatic gallery of bronze sculptures showing the roles of people in the revolution and in the world after. Apparently touching the dog’s nose is good luck!

It was Saturday evening and very lively as we wandered down the Arbat …file-D6C6AF73-DC93-4F13-813E-15E2A91D02C1-2037-0000026DA3AA64ABfile-B3196790-4800-4B8D-A59A-FB766AABBBCF-2037-0000026DA302F660

 

… and ate at Varenichnaya No1, decorated in retro Soviet style which seems all the rage in Moscow. They specialise in different types of dumplings, vareniki and pelmeni but also a some dishes with buckwheat and mine was so good, we might return so Chris can try the mushroom one.