An Unexpected Journey - Dmitrov

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Having boarded the train Ufa-Moscow at about 1 o’clock in the night, I, of course, went to bed and slept until 10 in the morning. During the day, I suffered because the sun shone almost directly in my face and the window had no curtain. My travel companion this time was the excellent book by Mark Twain ‘The Innocents Abroad’. Mark Twain is one of my favourite writers, and this is almost 400 pages of pure pleasure (except the passages on religion, because I do not understand much of it). It is a must-read for any traveler. I have read about 1/3 of the book while on trains.

This time I was rather attentive to what was going on around me and noticed that at a number of smaller stations (mainly villages) a couple or more people boarded the train, evidently, to go to Moscow to relatives, perhaps, on in search of a better life, work, study, etc. The train usually stops for a minute or two at such stations.

As regards Mark Twain’s ‘travelogue’, I was much sad while reading it because of two basic reasons. One is that I, most likely, will hardly ever make such a long and replete trip (on a ship), covering islands in the Atlantic, African coast, France, Italy, and continuing further to the Holy Land; but it’s quite likely that I will make separate trips to certain places. The second, being frank with oneself, is that one will hardly be able to write as Mark Twain (his book is, of course, reads like fiction though it combines the travelogue, the guidebook, and is filled with Twain’s humor). It takes no less than genius to become a classical writer. The way he writes about Paris, Venice or Milan, mingling history, events, his own views on art, travel guides, etc is simply perfect.

Arriving to Moscow by five o’clock in the morning, I opened my eyes and lay for a while on the bunk somewhat puzzled by the activity going on – people were rushing here and there, doing different things, I even thought it was time to get off the train, but no, about an hour still remained. I lay until hearing the train attendant’s words that the toilet was to close in ten minutes – I quickly got up, and brushed my teeth and washed my face and peed (the three indispensable things I have to do in the morning to feel well, though the sequence was reverse).

I got off the train and went to my standard destination during mornings in Moscow – Yaroslavsky train station to the “rest room” – a place with very comfortable chairs where one can rest and sleep; it’s very quiet and inexpensive, such rooms are available at many train stations in Russia. I paid for three hours and worked on my laptop from 5 till 8. Somehow I recalled the name of the town of Dmitrov close to Moscow and decided to visit it; my initial plan was to go by elektrichka to Kolomna or Alexandrov (in the Moscow Region) for sightseeing, my second initial plan was to sit and work, with periodic rest and bites, for the whole time until my train to Saint Petersburg at 15-50. My third plan was to visit Moscow’s manor Kolomenskoye, with a fine palace, a park and a church, but Dmitrov got the final vote (it was rather spontaneous). I have read previously about it and found it worthy of a short visit. You deposit your things right down below, at the baggage room (the price is too high), and take metro to Savelovsky Train Station, buy a return ticket from the machine and, inserting the ticket’s barcode in the reader, come to the platform, where the train is already waiting and leaves in about ten minutes (Russian trains do not go on strike, so you can be almost 100% sure of your departure and arrival time).

The views from the window evoke few feelings, the prevailing being that of lack of beauty. Within Moscow, the train makes several stops to admit or disembark people, and those particular stations are not a bit attractive. In about thirty minutes of driving, the train stops at various settlements, which, if you are a foreigner, will make you think negative of Russia (I attribute this fact to the gloomy weather, absence of thick pleasant green foliage enlivening the scenery, simplicity of the things and seriousness of the people. I thought about Moscow as a giant spider weaving its huge nets, attracting thousands of people, and at the same time I find it necessary to live in Moscow for about a month in future (to explore the regions and museums).

As I have said, a simple glance at the list and photos of Dmitrov’s sights made the decision easy. The train journey took about one hour an twenty minutes. I took a random street straightforward from the train station, but then had to switch on GPS navigation on my phone, because no sights were visible in the immediate vicinity. I reached the centre in about ten minutes. I liked the art I saw on the very first apartment blocks commemorating the city’s anniversary. The city was founded in 1154 by Kniaz Yuri Dolgoruki.

I now heave a deep sigh, remembering Mark Twain’s style, and proceed with my shit of a blog.

I noticed a beautiful green building looking modern and felt that the sight-packed centre was somewhere close. A small fountain and a yellow building with white columns confirmed my hopes, but the wind was very cold and fierce, making me walk all the faster. A shoot here, a shoot there, I walked along a street lined up with nice small colourful buildings and heard a man’s voice from afar – apparently, some sports competition was being held. The cleanness of the streets was what astonished me most – there was no litter, as compared to Izhevsk, for instance, but perhaps this can be explained by the approaching festivities of the 9^th of May – the Victory Day. The voice meanwhile announced the arrival of runner’s teams (I understood that a running competition was held among schoolchildren). He asked them to put on warm jackets and get ready for distribution of awards.

I came to a square with a Lenin statue, several nice buildings and a fountain, and saw a multitude of interesting items – a statue of a man (a monument to Yuri Dolgoruki), a monument to war heroes, and a church with Kremlin’s earthen mounds. The Dmitrov Kremlin is fenced in by earthworks up to 15 mm high and 960 m long. In olden times, it had timber walls with ten towers, only one of each was restored.

The Kremlin’s architectural dominant is Uspensky Cathedral built between 1509 and 1533 and rebuilt many times to its present appearance. Dmitrov has many street lanterns, five pieces on a post and the inscription “Dmitrov 1154”. Close to the Cathedral are several statues of various personages pertaining to bygone times: a lady, a wayfarer with a wallet, two couples, and a woman with a basket and cat. The cleanness pursued me everywhere I went, and I think any tourist being there on that day would be satisfied, even the fastidious and critical Mark Twain.

Then I saw a fountain of an interesting flower-like shape with thin water jets playing about, a fountain with Tsarevnas the Frog (read the Russian folk tale) called “The Waiting” (for a prince, apparently), and paid a quick visit to McDonalds to get warm and have of their best and tastiest. I saw church domes far away and decided to take a bus, but the bus did not come a long time, so I walked there on foot and it turned out quite close. But the wind! You cannot say that once you’ve seen a church, you’ve seen them all, because all of them are nice and beautiful.

Dmitrov’s inhabitants must be a cheerful nation because they paint their buildings in different colours and I think it must be quite positive, living with sorts of rainbows around. I then returned to the Kremlin, entering it from another side via the restored wooden gates, and saw a ‘wedding bridge’ by a small pond with a standing horseshoe on its one side and a reversed horseshoe on the other, the words ‘Belief Hope Love’ written on the former one and a multitude of spouse’s locks crowding the bridge bars. Some of the locks were immense, probably manifesting the largeness of their owners’ love. I wonder whether they remove their locks if divorced.

From that point, I was simply forced to return to Moscow because of unbearable wind and the approaching departure time. There was also a monument dedicated to Dmitrov’s being awarded the title of the Hero City. Finally, near the train station, I saw an unexpected sight – a machine selling … milk in bottles! I’ve never seen the like before.

I must thank Dmitrov for the unexpected journey and its wonderful sights.

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