Blogs from Yaroslavl, Centre, Russia, Europe
Yaroslavl – largest city of the Golden Ring…
Published: June 14th 2011Europe » Russia » Centre » Yaroslavl
June 14th 2011
I guess the Golden Ring can be described as churches, monasteries, churches, monasteries and probably some more churches :) The Golden Ring is made up of some of the oldest cities in Russia – Yaroslavl for example just celebrated its 1000 year existence in 2010. For this purpose Moscow freed up some money and invested in rebuilding churches, renovating buildings, … so Yaroslavl can boast with a neat and clean city center. Sometimes, however, these construction or renovation plans are not so well thought through. The new concert hall which was supposed to be built in Yaroslavl has a nice exterior, but apparently there is no more money for the interior . Nadia, my host, studied English and French – we had many interesting conversations about the Russian and Swiss mentality and giv... read more
January 8th 2011
October 15, 2010 In October I decided to visit Yaroslavl. It is only 12 hours by train from St. Petersburg. I came there early in the morning and left for St. Petersburg in the late evening. Here I present the highlights of the short trip, if there can be many highlights during only one day. Yaroslavl is also included in the Golden Ring Route. It is one thousand years old. It has a Kremlin, which is actually a former monastery, and a lot of different churches. There are some words to say about the sleep in the train – I didn’t sleep at all. Don’t know why. I was awakened by the steward about an hour an a half before reaching the city, and I got up, and after a very short while I fell asleep ... read more
September 24th 2010
Today's afternoon is the town of Yaroslavl, one of the oldest towns in Russia, founded in 1010 (yep, just missed the millennium celebration). Today the city has a population of 650,000 working mostly with oil refining and rubber tire manufacturing. The most amazing sight, in my opinion, was the Church of Elijah the Prophet. Built in 1650, this church has amazing frescoes, as Ernest's pictures capture I think. We listened to a male quartet sing in a small chapel that was really amazing. In addition, we were here on Friday, and as we had learned previously in our Russian tradition discussion, most weddings occur on Friday so they have the whole weekend to celebrate. As such, we saw several bridal couples and Ernest had to photograph them. Also, as a tradition, if the crowd yells "gorda" ... read more
March 6th 2007
I know the stories are not in line but it takes me awhile to get the pictures downloaded to my computer then uploaded on here, but since I had the day off due to Women's Day, I thought I would get my blog updated and back in order. It was a nice day off and Gaukhar and I had a good day shopping and then I came home, made peanut brittle, played volleyball, and now updating the blog. They now call me the "traveling frog" at work. I think that is their way of saying I do not let the grass grow under my feet. I can not argue with any of the statements and want to take advantage since I am here. I sure could not fly to these places for a weekend if I ... read more
June 14th 2006
Hello Everyone, I have spent two weeks enjoying Russian hospitality. We have travelled 1450 km. of rivers and canals, through four bodies of water and 19 locks. At one point we were at the 62nd parallel. That night, when it got dark enough to turn on lights, it started getting light again. Many of us had trouble sleeping. Although the Russians tend to be stoney faced most of the time--they come through when you need them. My plans were to arrive in St. Petersburg on June 5 and join the cruise on June 7 until June 17. My visa was issued for June 5 to 17. One week before I was to leave I was informed that the cruise I had planned to take had been cancelled, but they could get me on a cruise from ... read more
March 26th 2006
We put our watches back rather than forward last night, so when the woman called our room at 11.30 and told us to leave at once we still thought it was half past 9. We struggled to pack our things and each have a shower in time but somehow we managed. Claire and Orphais had already left to explore Moscow for a day so there was just myself, Tamzin and Liisa left. Chris W picked up where he left off in December by organising a meal out for us and making sure we all got there in time. I remembered the way to the Georgian restaurant with some help from Vladimir Ilych Lenin, who is still pointing towards it. Some of the atmosphere was still there and it was a good couple of hours. Dukhan still ... read more
March 25th 2006
Yartek is a thirty minute walk from Yaroslavl Glavnyi station - it took us almost exactly fourteen hours to get from my new school to my old one. While we walked I showed Liisa, Claire, Tamzin and Orphais the places that mean something to me; the poliklinika where I took my shirt off for the three women to examine me when I was ill, the Tolbukhina block of flats where I used to live, the Shinnik football stadium, the shop where I bought my winter coat, and Pizzeria Tashir. If the lady with the lazy eye (who always used to make me hot drinks when I was cold) was on night duty at Yartek I knew she would help us to find a hotel. If she wasn't we would have to start looking for somewhere to ... read more
January 6th 2006
When I arrived in Moscow it was 5 in the morning. I had an awful headache throughout the night in the cramped hot room and was desperate to clean my teeth, have a shower and a glass of water. But first I had to make my way back to Yaroslavl. I found my route on the metro from Kurskaya to Komsomolskaya and then found Yaroslavskii train station. Having asked ten miserable ladies in various kiosks for a ticket and being told to go somewhere else I finally found the right desk, only to be told the first three trains were all sold out. It surprises me how plain, middle aged women spend so much effort on their appearance - dyed hair, thick make-up, name badge carefully polished - only to be so rude to the people ... read more
December 22nd 2005
A last morning of being shouted at by Marina Ivanovna. My suitcase wasn't in the hall by 9 o'clock. I was going to bring it out of my room when I left at 9.15, the van wasn't coming to collect it until 3 so it made no difference, but it didn't stop her treating me like a mischief as usual. I dragged my suitcase through the snow on my own instead, so that I didn't have to go back twice. It was minus 9 this morning, and Chiara guessed closest again so she wins for the week. I will have to buy her a drink in Moscow! It is a beautiful day - the air is clear and it doesn't feel too cold. Our only lesson today was an informal speaking exam with Viktor. We each ... read more
December 21st 2005
Minus 5 this today but I thought it felt like minus 8 - which is why Chiara beat me in the guessing game again! It snowed a lot overnight and it is knee-deep where no-one has walked. We chatted about our plans for next week in Lena's class, then did some grammar after the break. I hasn't sunk in yet that at mid-day tomorrow I won't be a Yartek student any more, I feel as if I have been studying here for years. Olga gave us a translation for our last lesson with her, about Soviet Constructionalism of the 1920s. We converted it from Russian to English as best we could in the first half and re-read it to correct our mistakes in the second. I was pleased with my work; there wasn't time to check ... read more
