Russia - City to Country

Old Russian Village
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Today it was a relaxed start to the day as we headed out to the Russian countryside towards to town of Zagorsk. On the way we pass small Russian Villages that have remained unchanged in some respects for centuries. We stop at a very small cottage and are welcomed by Babbooshka Catherine, a little old lady aged 80+, and are invited to look around her home and take pictures of her modest lifestyle. Our tour guide tells us that living has not changed much here over the centuries, there are few luxuries, and she tends her own vegetable garden that takes up the entire plot of land. Crops must be grown and harvested before winter comes to get enough food to survive.

Babbushka Catherine
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She loves having her photo taken by one and all and it makes her happy to think that her photo is going out to all corners of the world. The little bit of Roubles that everyone gives her I'm sure also helps a lot.

Moscow should now be named Mosc-Vegas...

It is then on to our morning destination where we enter the Russian Vatican, St Sergius Laora, centre of the Russian Orthodox church and a place of pilgrimage for the faithful. We are taken on a guided tour of of the compound which amougst other things, stands three churches. one of these churches is the shrine of Saint Sergevey for whom the compound is named. All three churches have walls, columns and ceilings covered with religious frescoes and walls full of images of religious icons. The decorative gilding on the columns, alter gate and icon screens are intricately sculptured and mind-boggingly gilded with gold.

Catherines Kitchen
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After the guided tour ended, we went and splashed ourselves with wather from the "fountain of youth", then decide to purchase a couple of plastic bottles to fill from the spring - as this is the cheapest water we are going to get in Russia and it tastes ok too! After this we leave the compound and wander through the many stalls set up by local craftsmen that make the famous laquer boxes and matrishka imbedded dolls. Some of these doll sets go as far as 10 or 15 pieces deep! The vendors are also selling lots of other locally made arts and crafts.

Catherines very Rustic House and vegetable garden
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After a salad lunch, we set out on our return journey back to Moscow. We stop at a church called St Peter and Pauls for a photo, and are once again presented with the iconic Russian Cathederal with onion domes. Back closer to Moscow, the traffic at 3pmn in the afternoon is almost unbelievable, and it takes us more than an hour to travel a distance that without traffic would take us no longer than 10mins. This is normal traffic.

We take a break for an hour or so and have an early dinner in the hotel restaurant. After this we boarded our trusty bus again for the Moscow Illuminations tour. This is a tour of the city at night past the lit up monuments and buildings. These include the Moscow University - the largest of the Stalin Wedding Cake buildings, the Nevodavinci Monastry which overlooks swan lake, the lake that inspired the ballet. We also travel to the city viewpoint, where we can take in the full view of the city. Here once again there are market stalls which are pounced on by all of us to get our last minute Moscow souveniers. Our next stop is the Peter the Great Monument, a huge statue of the man standing on what looks like the deck of a small sailing ship. Here the group is treated to champagne by our tour director Monica.

A not s old local village house
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What would an illuminations tour be without a final stop at Red Square. St Basils is shining in all its glory, and the Goum Super Store now truly looks like Harrods at christmas with thousands of lightbulbs adorning the lines of the building. The walled Kremlin is lit rather solemly, adding to the mystic of the place. Five of its large towers are adorned by glowing red stars which turn with the wind.

This is our last night in Moscow and we have been somewhat surprised with what we have seen. The city is very cospopolitan, with all the young people spending, spending, spending on anything and everything western. Clothes, cars, and other material items are on sale in massive shopping centres lit with bright lights. Buildings are painted brightly and the apartment blocks which seem to go on forever are being renovated and housing is almost unafordable, The new Russia was both scary and exciting, as as we travel back to our hotel this last night, we pass the the strip which could easily be called Mos-Vegas - filled with casinos every second building, bright lights and music and unending european cars parked out front.