Leaving 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!
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.
A pathway took us through the old part of town …
… to the viewpoint …
… 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 …
… beside the Cathedral of St Dmitry …
whose walls are covered in a confusion of carved images including King David charming the birds and beasts with his music.
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.
Walking back into town for dinner, we noticed a statue of the very same prince …
… 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.
Off Travelling Together 