Wandering re-establishes the original harmony which once existed between man and the universe. - Anatole France June 5, 2009, Friday, Sergiev Posad to the Region Tver Russia. 370 long, long kms. Today is a driving day, as we finish the tour of the Golden Ring” and begin our trek toward St. Petersburg. A word about Language. During our travels, there have been times when the languages of various countries have baffled us, but at least we recognized the letters. The Russian language is based on the Cyrillic Alphabet, not the Roman, so our lack of understanding now has dropped to a lower level. We don’t recognize most of the symbols that make up the alphabet. When confronted with a sign, the brain wants to read …a word, instead an “error” message pops up. Up until ... read more

This is probably the best palce we visited on the Golden Ring So we Now comes the WOW! The town of Sergiev Posad which tributes St. Sergiev as founder of the local Trinity Monastery and patron saint of all of Russia, among the most important and active in Russia---it exudes ORTHODOXY. It is so impressive! Bearded priests bustle about; babushka ladies fill bottles of holy water, crowds of believers light candles to St. Sergiev. This mystical place is a window into the age-old belief system, the Russian Orthodox Church. It was evening when we arrived, but we managed to catch the final service of the day, complete with hymns and incense. Every step in this ancient walled town, screams “photo opt”. ... read more

A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving. ~Lao Tzu June 1, 2009, Monday, Moscow to Vladimir to Suzdal, Russia—220km. Our tour leaders were due to change today!? Departure was to be 8 AM, today we begin the tour of the “Golden Ring” some of Russia’s oldest cities rich with Russian history. We waited and finally some young Russian gals appeared. They don’t seem to speak much English. This is going to be fun. Around 10ish our convoy of 16 RV’s head out on the ring roads of Moscow toward M7, it appears to still be rush hour and the traffic is heavy. Keeping so many large vehicles together is a challenge. It is a long slow drive, but we managed to get to Vladimir. It is a large city ... read more

When you travel, remember that a foreign country is not designed to make you comfortable. It is designed to make its own people comfortable. - Clifton Fadiman May 28, 2009, Thursday, Nelidovo RUS to Moscow RUS. The saga continues and the road certainly has not improved, it is still incredibly awful. Today’s drive will be another 360 kilometers as we drive into Moscow. We are taking turns with our friends leading and following, and at one point we just stopped…it is hard to take the ruts, bumps, dirt, potholes, washboards, etc. There seems to be not end. “There appears to be a light at the end of the tunnel, or is it a train coming in the other direction?” Finally the road surface improves as we approach Moscow, but then there is the traffic problem. ... read more

There is a sun above the clouds May 23, 2009, Friday, Riga City, Latvia. The day is cloudy and windy as we start our walk over the bridge to the Old Town and on to the central market. The Baltic’s largest market place has occupied the converted Zeppelin hangars since 1930. Each of the hangars, or pavilions, has a specialty, meat, fish, groceries, and dairy products. But as we walked around the many booths, one can find anything… from sunglasses to mittens, from DVD’s to baskets. It was quite a cultural experience. Rain began as we walked back to the Old Town in search of the History Museum of Navigation. However, after walking for the past 5 hours, we opted to go to the movie, “Angels and Demons” in English with Latvian subtitles. The Latvian ... read more