Baltics and Russia

September 26, 2006

While I walked around the city I saw some Cows. The story behind this goes back to when I visited Europe and my co-workers and I made it a point to try to find as many decorative “cows on parade” that we could.

September 26, 2006

The Kremlin! While growing up, I never thought I would see the inside of the Kremlin. It was just a few decades ago that an American spy would risk his life to pass through the walls.

The Kremlin is a self-contained city palaces, armories, and churches. The word “kremlin” means “fortified town.” The Kremlin dates back to 1147 and the very beginnings of Moscow and over time, every ruler added additional buildings and monuments to the walled city. Today, it remains governmental property and although a tourist attraction, it is where the government officials work. Continue reading →

September 25, 2006

Our first stop in Moscow – the Novodevichy (New Nunnery) Convent. I was excited to see this because it was here that Peter the Great’s power hungary, manipulative half-sister, Sofia was exiled here.

Peter was not first in line for the Tsar. His father had two wives and Peter’s half brothers, Fyordor and Ivan V, were in line to succeed to the throne before Peter. Fyordor died six years after he was succeeded to power leaving the throne to Ivan V.

Ivan V, however was an invalid and unfit to rule so the Russian Council named the 10-year-old Peter the next Tsar. Sofia, Ivan’s sister and Peter’s half-sister, led a rebellion against Peter, killing most of Peter’s family and insisted that Peter and Ivan be made joint Tsars while she acted as regent. A fascinating story of greed and power. Continue reading →

September 25, 2006

I never thought I would end up giving Moscow’s Metro system its own web-page. I had heard the Metro was nice but when I learned that the “Moscow by Night Tour” included a tour of the Metro, I thought, come on, how nice can it be?

I have been in a lot of subways around the world and although some of them are more distinctive than others, there was no doubt that there isn’t another Metro system like this one. Nice” doesn’t exactly describe it – more like palatial. I guess that is why it is often called “the people’s palaces”. Continue reading →

September 25, 2006

Moscow! Wow, I couldn’t have been more surprised by Moscow. It is a great city with plenty of things to do and see. I guess my impression of Moscow were based off of old new stories with pictures of people lined up at the GUM department store or waiting for hours to spend a day’s wage on a Big Mac and fries.

In also I had heard so many negative stories about pickpockets and racquets that targeted tourists. I was a little nervous but as I walked around, I realized, it is just like any other big city, there are great things to see and there are things you have to watch out for. Continue reading →

September 24, 2006

We again sailed through the night. We sailed down the Volga River towards Moscow. I had awoken while passing through a lock and sat up for a while admiring the clear sky and bright stars. I was shocked when I woke up, fog had set which gave an eerie view of Uglich as we approached it.

Uglich was founded in 1148. It sits on the banks of the Volga river. The kremlin (fortress) was built by Ivan the Terrible. Within the walls are several building including the Cathedral of Resurrection, the Palace of Tsarvich Dimitry and the Church of Dimitry on the blood.

Continue reading →

September 23, 2006

One of Russia’s oldest cities, Yaroslavl was founded by Yaroslavl the Wise in 1010. Yaroslavl situated on both sides of the Volga River was an important trading port. Today Yaroslavl is an important industrial center.

In the Baltics as well as in Russia we have seen a lot of wedding couples in almost every city. Every tour guide has commented on very high divorce rates. In Russia, when a couple wants to wed, they register at places where the civil ceremonies are performed. Weddings do not take places in churches and religious weddings are not recognized by the government. After filling out the application they are given a time it will be performed. You don’t get to choose the day or even the time of day. After the wedding party usually drives around the city and has pictures taken in popular spots which are usually the same spots the tourists are visiting. Along the way we have heard various stories about performing some act (such as ringing a bell or throwing a coin into a fountain) which will help make their love strong

Continue reading →

September 22, 2006

We arrived Goritsy which is a small town with the Nunnery of the Resurrection and the Kirillo-Belozsersky Monastery. Our tour skipped the Nunnery and went to the monastery which was founded in 1397.

The monastery was supported over the years by various Tsars including Ivan IV (the Terrible) who funded a fort wall. The buildings contained icon art and examples of the needlework done at the nunnery..

Continue reading →

September 21, 2006
We again sailed through the night East on the Svir river and then North on the Onega Lake. I awoke to colder temperatures and rain but the rain cleared by the time we stopped at Khizi.

Khizi was founded in the 15th century and today is an open air museum with distinctive wooden structures with some of them dating back to the 14th century (some of the structures were moved from other sites to Kizhi). The structures have earned Khizi a UNESCO cultural heritage site designation.

The most impressive structure is the church of Transfiguration (a.k.a. the Summer Church) which was originally built in 1583 and then rebuilt in 1714 after the original church burned down. All of the structures are made completely out of wood with no nails. Recently steel structures and nails have been used to help support the structures.

In addition to the church of Transfiguration, there was the Winter Church, a much smaller church that was used during the winter as it was not practical to heat the larger Summer church during the winter. There were also original houses, bath houses, and a windmill. We were able to see daily activities of the family including young women spinning yarn and making beaded jewelry.

During the winter months, the area is inaccessible except by helicopter. The rivers and lakes completely freeze over. The tour guides who live there in summer months move to another area from October to May.

Continue reading →

September 20, 2006

Our boat set sail at 6:00 PM the previous night and we sailed the entire night down the River Neva into La Doga Lake. There isn’t a lot to see, just trees and more trees. Surprisingly it is very flat, there are few hills and no mountains in sight. It is pretty however, and the leaves are just beginning to change color. I am sure in just a few weeks, the colors must be wonderful.

It started to rain during the night sometime. I must admit that we have lucked out with weather. Most of the tour guides mentioned that we are experiencing an “Indian Summer”. We have had little rain and the temps have been comfortable.

There isn’t a lot to see along the way, just miles of heavily forested areas. Occasionally we saw small villages but there was little to photograph. Most of them look poor and in desperate need of repair. Continue reading →