Moscow and The Golden Ring (or, The Onion-Dome Obsession Tour Extravaganza!)

Dear Readers,

Slava Bogu (Thank God) for Vacation. For the past ten days I've been traveling, and I wish I could write a novel here for every day of it because it was SO fantastic! But you'll have to settle with a summary because I'm lazy :)

Moscow: Met with my Russian Bestie Natasha, stayed at Godzilla's Hostel (The best in Moscow, as far as I'm concerned), met two great Danes, finally saw the Tretyakov Gallery and discovered my favorite Russian Artist: Врубель, creeped on Lenin in his Mausoleum, bonded with Lydia during a museum-overload (All art is centered around naked people and fish?), fed a squirrel out of my hand, and found my dad a lovely fur hat.


Vladimir: Had an amazing time couchsurfing, met lots of new and exciting people, ate at "Mr. hamburger," visited the 4 best bars in the city for cheap beer and dancing, baked chocolate chip cookies, met perhaps the most beautiful man I've ever seen, and visited the following three towns...


Bogolyubova: A cute little town right next to Vladimir, took the bus with my host and she showed me an amazing little church in the middle of a beautiful field. Ran into an old woman herding her goats, which made my day.


Suzdal: Went once in the rain, and then again in the sun. Gorgeous town, took pictures of every onion dome I saw, visited every museum inside the main monastery, had a picnic lunch outside of the old prison, talked a lot with an Argentinian, and tried Suzdal's famous honey-liquor "Medovukha"


Murom: A spontaneous trip which turned into a large group excursion to an old Russian city. We found an old soviet amusement park, explored the beach along the river, took lots of group photos, ordered salmon on a pizza, and snacked on lots of smoked cheese and pirozhki.


Back to Moscow: Waiting for my overnight train to Novgorod, I had about 7 hours to kill before I had to be at the station. I walked passed a guy who was obviously another traveler, and we ended up talking. He turned out to be a mystic, a hippie, and a raw-foodist. He told me all about his Guru, took me to an esoteric bookshop/cafe, played me some Beatles songs on his guitar, and we walked around all afternoon discussing idioms and proverbs, whilst looking for his favorite teashop (which had been moved since his last time in Moscow, so we never found it).


Anyway, now I'm back in Novgorod and happy to have my Russian mother over-feeding me. Also: our huge, white, nameless cat has returned from the dacha. I think I'll call her Pushok (which means "Fluff").

I love Russia.
Sarah

Церквы / Churches

No matter where you go (Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novgorod, etc.) Russia is full of old churches, cathedrals, and monasteries. Here's something you may not know: I LOVE them all! It's so amazing that there is history EVERYWHERE in this town, dating back to the first century! So now, children: Settle down, and listen to my tale...

Today the weather was so gorgeous, that Andrew and I went for a walk around town. We started at Andrews apartment, and just walked. A block from Andrews we ran into the церков Федора Стратилата на Ручью, or the Church of Theodore Stratilatus on the brook. A beautiful little church surrounded by a lovely garden, and right next to a public school.


Two blocks later we found some of the old ramparts, ancient fortifications that have since been reduced to an elevated grassy path that goes around the whole city. We followed it far enough to find a stretch of the original walls, complete with graffiti that matched my outfit.


Seeing some Onion domes in the distance, we headed down the street towards Церковь Спаса Преображения на Ильине улице, or the Church of the Transfiguration of our Saviour on Ilina street, which is a HUGE chunk of church, and was recently in my facebook profile picture.


Right across the street was the Знаменский Собор, or Znamenskiy Cathedral. This was also a museum, which meant we could go inside, but also meant that we had to pay for a ticket. In most Russian museums, you can pay extra for a the privilege to take photos --- so I did, and proceeded to take more photos that anyone probably wants to look at. This cathedral has its own album on facebook, if you're interested.


Anyway, the moral of the story is that I love Russia, I love Novgorod, and I love onion domes.

Sarah