Blogs from Kazan, Volga, Russia, Europe
May 15th 2012
Volgograd-Saratov-Samara Nasi dalsi zastavkou je misto zvane " Utes Stepena Razina". Sjizdime z hlavni silnice mezi Vogogradem a Saratovem a po 8km po prasnych cestach prijizdime na brehy Volhy. Krajina je zvlnena, porostla brizami a krizovana stovkami vyjetych cest. Ve vesnici se ptame kudy jet a pak uz zvesela projizdime krajinou az na misto, kde je sezeni, zeleny travnik a uzasny vyhled dolu na reku Volhu. Bile utesy lemuji tmave modrou az cernou hladinu reky po ktere pluji lode. Pote zajizdime dolu az na samy breh , kde si macime nohy ve studene vode s jeste plavoucim ledem. Z teto prirodni oazy klidu a zelene se vydavame do mesta Saratov, oazy prachu a ruchu. Krasny vyhled na mesto z Parku Pobedy a prochazka nocnim centrem nam trochu vylepsuji dojem. Hlavnim zazitkem jsou ovsem zlate natrene lampy, ... read more
June 23rd 2011
They call it Instanbul of the Wolga – the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan – where Muslim and Christians, Tatar and Russian meet. During the Soviet times Kazan was the capital of the Tatar Autonomous Republic and enjoyed also after the breakup of the Soviet Union certain sovereignty from Moscow. Micha picked me up from the train station at 6.20 am – unfortunately the 20min ride to his place was the only time I saw him during the coming 3 days. Consequently, the deep dive into the Tatar culture which I was hoping for didn’t happen. Micha had another CS staying over – Felix, a German guy hitchhiking his way to Siberia – he tried to convince me to come along with him for a while... yeah, not really :) However, Felix and I gave ... read more
July 14th 2010
I visited Kazan many times and had many walks there. I usually go to St. Petersburg via Kazan by train. I like this city, because I feel comfortable there. I mean, in the centre, I haven’t been in other areas. My first visit there was in May 2009, when I was going to Kursk, and on my way I had two stops in Kazan and Moscow. It was extremely fine to start walking at 6 o’clock in the morning, with almost no people in the streets and lovely atmosphere, the sun was shining and the sky was blue. I did not use any transport for moving in the city, because the train station is in the centre and major attractions are also there. But I did go by metro one time and by bus, only because ... read more
April 20th 2010
Le pays tatar aura sans doute notre visite un peu plus approfondie dans un mois, d'ici la contentons-nous d'explorer sa capitale. A peine sortis de la gare la mosquee Qolsharif, sertie dans son joyau kremlinois (Kremlin ou Кремлин dans le texte veut dire forteresse, ca n'est donc pas l'apanage de Moscou, toute ville de bonne taille en a une) nous saute aux yeux, du coup on file la visiter. Toute de blanc et de turquoise vetue, l'interieur s'avere aerien et a dominante bleue egalement, et bien que non visitable avec un guide on la savoure donc. Un tir a l'arbalete plus tard on file deambuler dans la grande rue, et apres quelque sustentation c'est une CS americaine qui me fait le plaisir d'un toit pour la nuit. Le lendemain encore un bon bout de nos semelles ... read more
March 31st 2009
March 27th, 2009 - 2201 hrs I’m sitting at a two-person table in a rusty boxcar on the way to Kazan. Outside my window, I see couples and families embrace in the cold Russian night. For this country it is a common sight wherever you go but tonight these hugs have an added intensity. There’s a small scent of iron in the air that carries through the terminal and before the doorway to your train. With passport and ticket in hand the only thing that stands between me and Tartarstan is a ten hour ride across snowy planes. Kazan is the capital of a semi-autonomous republic within the Russian federation. Its about as far as you can go before hitting the Urals and subsequent Siberian. This gives the city an added feeling of East meets West, ... read more
August 18th 2008
We are back to Europe, after 3 days in the train. There were almost no tourists, only one Canadian guy that we met also in hostel in Irkutsk. So there was not much fun, only in the evenings when we were drinking vodka together. There was no one to join us. And I finished reading "Dr. Zhivago", Zuzana "The picture of Dorian Gray". This city is nice, its Kremlin is Unesco heritage. There is also a mosque. I would post here some pics, but yet again we do not have the card reader with. Maybe later today. So the city lives with tourism, many stalls with souvenirs, typical Tatar products etc. But to find an internet cafe was pain in the arse. We found 3, all saying with big signs "Internet", or "Online" together with big ... read more
April 15th 2008
Hello All! Sorry for taking so long to write anything! I stopped writing after the car accident. For those of you who do not know, I was in an accident with my friends while coming home from a weekend trip in Nizhny Kamsk. One friend was in the hospital for a month, and I was in bed with a compressed spine. All is ok though, and everyone lived thankfully. Thanks, mom, for always making me wear my seatbelt. I did it without thinking and it is probably the only reason I am here. So thanks to mom and God for that one. For a quick update before more detailed ones come, I am finishing up my last few weeks here and have had the time of my life and really do not want to leave. I ... read more
September 17th 2007
We drove 30 kms. towards the border on a cool gloomy day, Got through the Russian side quite easily, we were hushed in this hangar building and got stamped in, it was a cold day so I wore my liner gloves when it was my turn to get stamped the immigration guy laughed at me for wearing gloves, I said it was cold, well they can handle cold better I am sure. Our day bags were run through the x-ray machine, then a long wait for the truck to get inspected, probably about an hour, we can see from a distance it is being boarded, lockers being opened, and sniffing dogs all over the place. Then when that was over we are off. Another 200kms more of driving and we are in Samara. We are staying ... read more
August 29th 2007
Hallo nach Deutschland, nach Moskau, Nizny Nowgorod und Kazan, sind wir nun auf dem Weg nach Ufa. Doch zurück zur Hauptstadt der Tartaren. Die Stadt Kazan hat uns allen sehr gut gefallen. Multikulit, denn hier leben Christen, Orthodoxe und Muslime friedlich miteinander. Die tartarischen Frauen backen angeblich den besten Kuchen. Wir konnten es testen und ja! er mundete sehr. Die Fuzo der 1.2 Mio Metropole zeigt den Wandel in der Gesellschaft deutlich. Alte Sowjetgeschäfte neben modernsten Einkaufszentren. Junge, fröhliche Menschen, Live-Bands, hübsche Mädchen. Bei den Tartaren geht es aufwärts. Auf einem Berg das alte Stadtzentrum, der Kreml. Zur 1000 Jahr Feier der Stadt 2005 wurde die alte Moschee wieder erbaut. Ein Bauwerk wie aus 1001 Nacht. Was der Prachtbau gekostet hat, wissen die Bürger nicht. Nachts wird er grün und blau beleuchtet. Die Fassaden aus weißem ... read more
April 19th 2006
This afternoon as we did was walk around to say our goodbyes. The girls went to a museum that I had already been to, so I did some shopping and explored ulitsa Baumana for the last time. In one corner two men had set up a 'stage', taken their shirts off and were singing Beatles songs in a punk fashion, one man breaking his guitar strings with the three chords he knew, the other tapping his tambourine when he felt like it. They stopped between tracks to sip cups of tea and, bizarrely, to tune their instruments. It took me until the last line of 'Sargeant Pepper' to work out which song they were paying tribute to. Our last lunch was at Dom Chaya again, which for 18 roubles and 30 kopecks does a fantastic cup ... read more
