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Day 15 -16 (April 19-20)
Vladimir is an old capital, but we move on from here by local bus to the nearby town of Suzdal (also an old capital). Because it is that bit further from the Trans-Siberian train line it hasn’t been developed as much and retains it’s old charm.
Suzdal is a town of so many churches (over 50) for a population of only 12,000. Most of the churches are actually two buildings, a smaller one for winter to save on heating, and a larger one for summer (to impress). It is a Unesco World Heritage area and not surprising.
It’s Kremlin is very impressive. There is a market in the square selling quilts, wooden crafts and pottery, as well as the local drink (honey mead). We go to a tasting area and try out the various meads served by people in costume from the time of Suzdal’s renown.
As we have arrived in the town on Easter Saturday (Orthodox Easter) and our leader has arranged an invitation to have a cooking lesson and help with preparations for a typical Easter at the home of our bus driver. We arrive there and they have to
hold off this massive dog (bigger and hairier and meaner than Kugo) and we head inside a small cottage (all 13 of us), we sit around the kitchen which is reasonably large space and are soon put to work.
Eggs are painted, cheese cake mixtures made, Easter cakes also. Glancing out the window the snow is falling and the wind is blowing the power lines together creating great sparks.
Dinner is local fish, mashed potato a beetroot and salted fish dish and coleslaw. Unfortunately, I get a migraine or something and sadly can’t eat it. We are sent on our way (running past Kugo who thinks we are his dinner) and are given the eggs and cakes we’ve made for tomorrow. There is a 3 hour mass starting just prior to midnight (I can’t go but I don’t think that even if I had been ok that I could have stood for all that time - there are no seats in an Orthodox church).
The following day we head out with a local guide for a walking tour of the town. It is very cold and snowing. Our guide shows us through the Kremlin (which is a
fortress or walled area containing the royal buildings, cathedral etc).
In the Kremlin there is a large hall which has two dutch ovens used for heating. These are massive ceramic structures that have painted tiles with many stories and moral tales. The ovens store heat generated from somewhere outside the room. They are so big that the stored heat radiates throughout the hall. The hall has walls and ceilings that are metres thick which means that incredible arched ceilings are supported without any inner columns.
We then had the opportunity to go into the cathedral and see and photograph an orthodox church, which has icons painted from floor to ceiling, depicting the life of Christ and Christian themes, and various saints and local rulers.
We see this again at the local monastery, but here we are treated to some beautiful monastic chants from a group of monks. We also hear the local bell ringer playing out a song at midday using hands and feet to manipulate various ropes attached to small and large bells.
Snow was falling all the while, and so after a quick look out over the village, we head into a local café
Feeding the pigeons
Vladimir main street in background for some warmth and coffee and also try some Russian dark chocolate (yum).
We head back to the hotel where we use the lobby for a picnic area as it is too cold outside. Our easter fare of boiled painted eggs, cheese mixture and Easter cake goes down very well, but we can’t get through it all so we pass it on to a poor old lady sitting in the square (it made her very happy).
I spend the afternoon in a café reading my book - perfect! Dinner is local, and I have the cabbage soup which is hearty fare in such cold weather.
The next day it is back to Vladimir, where we see the sites and learn some more Russian history and get some lunch (dumplings with potato and mushroom) before catching a bus to Moscow.
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