Blogs from Kazan, Volga, Russia, Europe - page 2

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

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

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

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

The blue spring sky came back today, then turned to shades of grey in the afternoon. Both myself and Ella ordered the same 'sendvich dlya lancha' for lunch, and recieved half of the same one twenty minutes apart. Russian logic for you. We spent the day between Kremlevskaya and Baumana, and the steep cobbled streets that link them. As we were sitting on a bench in the street 'Angels' by Robbie Williams started to play from one of the clothes shops. It reminded me of my class singing it in the Tatarstan wilderness when we stopped in the middle of our nightmare minibus journey in the autumn. Maybe the best memory. It wasn't the same today without Chris J playing it on his guitar. In the evening myself and Liisa took a trip 'there and back' ... read more