A Day at the Mall

Mall art. 

The Italian toothpaste in the much sought after black liquorice. 

For $12 you can get a theatre with 'relax' seating; for $6 there is regular seating. The movie was dubbed in Russian but it wasn't hard to follow. I went to see the Scarlett Johansson / Luc Besson movie "Lucy". It was bad in any language. 

The trailers included the Denzel Washington movie where he fights the Russian mob - which was also perfectly clear in Russian. 

The theatre also includes the Tarantino bar. 

Day Off

I'm taking some time off from being a tourist to enjoy the advantages of a big city. Tomorrow I'm going to the movies. Here are some random photos from the past few days.

Potato chips - sour cream & onion, smoked meat? [John: Strong "Chips to Beer" - Hunter's Sausage], and crab. The crab chips seem very popular and are the only flavour available everywhere. They were actually pretty good; I haven't tried the other flavours yet.

[John: Other Flavours in the Strong Line are Holodets (Aspic) with Horseradish and Smoked Cheese, but my favourite so far found online is the Estrella brand chips which has "Delicate salmon in a creamy sauce"]

Trim on the window and gutter of an average house in Suzdal. 

Photo of Vladimir Putin's visit to the Veliky Novgorod archaeology dig site - face of Putin deliberately scratched out. (There are almost no non-Russian tourists).  

Breakfast cereal. 

Narrowest and smallest elevator ever - about 20 inches across. 

Nizhny Novgorod

During the Soviet years the city was known as Gorky and was closed to foreigners because it was a centre for military R&D. Even tourism for Russians was discouraged.

The original town dates to the early 13th century although there is not much from that time still standing. The current Kremlin was built early 16th century. At 227 hectares it is the largest Kremlin I've seen so far. To put that in perspective, the Moscow Kremlin is 27 hectares. The city is settled on both sides of the Volga river with the Kremlin at the top of the hill. A long pathway runs along the top of the hill and around the Kremlin. 

Below is the view of the steps down to the port.

View of the Volga from the wall walk.

Trains

I'm used to counting 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 etc. I expect things to go in order. It's not the same in Russia. Below is a picture of the pier at Peterhof. You can zoom in the picture and you'll see that the launches are numbered in some indecipherable order.

The train stations are similar. The platforms are numbered and the tracks on either side may also be numbered (sometimes it's just left or right). It seems that where the tracks are numbered as well as the platforms they skip track numbers. So platform 3 means no track 3. 

So where is track 4?

The train stations seem to have been designed with attention to the flow of travellers in a rational and reasonable manner. The stations in Moscow were built many years ago and have been adapted for increased flow and security needs. Many doors to the platforms are blocked off so that security can screen everyone before they board a train. Although, all the old and out of date English signage has been kept in place.  There aren't a lot of waiting areas and they don't always have a reasonable amount of seating they also don't have those lovely announcement boards that tell you which track and platform your train is leaving from. The train schedules are fixed well in advance but they often wait until the last 15 minutes to announce the platform. The platforms and security screening are often split between local commuter trains and long distance high speed trains which generally means some kind of detour to find your track. 

I bought 2nd class tickets on long range trains so mostly the trains are similar to Eurpoean or Indian trains - with entertainment and wifi. The commuter trains have rough seats, sometimes wooden benches, and look quite cramped. I do find that the sleeper cabins are narrower which leads to more opportunities to whack your head on the opposite bunk but not really a problem. 

Suzdal by Bus

After my last out of town bus trip I was  more than a little nervous about taking another bus trip but since the hotel neglected to arrange the tour as agreed I decided to suck it up. It was surprisingly easy.

The information I have says that there is a route 2 bus between Vladimir and Suzdal that goes between the 2 bus stations. The Suzdal bus station is 2 km out of town but once you get to the Suzdal station the driver will sell an additional ticket for the drive down the main street. However, this is an hour long trip and they sell more tickets than seats. The trip out wasn't a problem because it was early enough that the bus was not full. For the trip back I caught the bus in town to get back to the bus station. I could tell when we were close to the station as all the older women started to stand up in anticipation. I had automatically moved to the back of the bus since the older people were crowding in at the front. The bus pulls in and the doors pop open and the old folks begin jostling their way off the bus. I realized then the excitement was all about getting a seat on the way back to Vladimir. The back door of the bus popped open and I leapt for the curb. I strolled into the bus station 1/2 a step before the rest of the passengers and was greeted by a dim hallway with closed doors. (Like almost every building here). I turn to my right and recognize the sign for ticket booth on the door I almost was passed. I was first to buy my ticket, which included a seat and I was understood the first time I asked. (None of the old folks were left standing either).  This is the first day I don't feel completely hopeless. 

Suzdal is a sleepy little town surrounding the Klyazma River and is primarily visited for its churches, monastery and convent and is known for the bells that ring out every hour from the monastery.

Recording from the Bell Tower - Suzdal - The Ensemble Of the Saviour Monastery of  St. Euthymius - Belfry

The original settlement has been dated back to the first half of the 10th C. But it is first mentioned in the Russian Chronicles as 990. Through the 12th century and into the early 13th century Suzdal was the capital of the principality. However as the sons of the prince settled further down river the political power became more centralized in Vladimir.  

Traditional Russian Gingerbread

Lola pretty pretty. Tastes yucky yucky. 

Vladimir

Vladimir is one of the medieval capitals of Russia with significant buildings surviving from the 12th century.

The Grand Duchy of Vladimir was one of the major principalities that succeeded the Kievan Rus.

The namesake of Vladimir II Monomakh, Valdimir's Golden Age was during the reign of Andrew the Pious, however, it abruptly ended when the Mongol hordes under Batu Khan took and burnt Vladimir in 1238.

After being conquered by the Mongol Empire, the principality became a self-governed state headed by its own nobility, but thereafter the Grand Prince was appointed by a Khan declaration issued from the Golden Horde.

Alexander Nevsky was installed as the Grand Prince of Vladimir in 1252 and his remains were kept in the ancient Nativity abbey of Vladimir until 1703, when Peter the Great had them transferred to the Lavra in St. Petersburg.

The Grand Princes of Vladimir were crowned in Vladimir's Assumption Cathedral until Moscow superseded Vladimir in the 14th century and Valdimir was the See (seat) of the Russian Metropolitan (equivalent to Archbishops in the Greek Orthodox church) From 1299 to 1325, when the Metropolitan Peter moved the See to Moscow, thus completing the shift of religious power to Moscow.

Traditionally, Vladimir-Suzdal is perceived as a cradle of the Great Russian language and nationality.

For All a You WWII and Medieval Weapons Buffs

These photos are from the Vladimir Military Museum.

This is a PPS-43 also called Pistolet-pulemyot Sudaeva or Sudaev's submachine-gun.

The PPS was created in response to a Red Army requirement for a compact and lightweight weapon with similar accuracy and projectile energy to the Soviet PPSh-41 submachine gun widely deployed at the time, with reduced rate of fire, produced at lower cost and requiring less manpower, particularly skilled manpower.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/PPS-43

Food

The food here hasn't been very good to me. The hotels have breakfast provided but quality is depressing. Generally, I skip the hotel breakfast and run off thinking I'll grab a meat pie at the bakery down the street. Before I know it it's 2pm and all I've had is a bottle of water.

The restaurants are A la carte which makes meals either terribly boring or rather expensive for just one person. Which I could live with if I liked what I got.  Unfortunately, livestock by products like butter and eggs are dependant for their flavour on the feed of the animal; the differences in flavour is nauseating. Nothing made from these tastes quite right either. The brown bread tastes rancid but the white is fine. Oddly enough, the meat tastes fine; although, a little bland. I had bear (fresh from the local forest) dumplings for lunch yesterday and couldn't even tell it was wild meat. (I'm seriously suspicious).

Anyway, dinner tonight was lovely, sushi with salmon, avocado and cucumber followed by Perch fish and roasted potatoes. Perch! I don't think I've had Perch in 25 years. 

Pictures

Here are a few pictures from churches and monasteries over the past few days in V. Novgorod.