Vologda!

This weekend we traveled by a sleeper train to Vologda.  The public transportation system is much more developed in Russia, and used often by people of all walks of life.  In the past week I have traveled by commuter train, subway, taxi, car, more subways, airplane, sleeper train, bus, and mini bus. Whew!  I'm tired!

Volgoda is an ancient city that was built around the same time as Moscow by Ivan the Terrible.  Actually, Ivan was planning on having it as the capital of Russia, but it during construction a rock fell on his head.  He took it as a sign, and decided on Moscow instead.

This is inside Vologda's Kremlin.  I always thought that the word "kremlin" was specific to Moscow.  Actually, many cities have them.  "Kremlin" means "fortress."  In ancient times these areas would have been the part of the city that was within the wall, providing the defense of the area, housing the church, and also the government seat.

We traveled to a nearby city for The Day of the Horse!  This was fantastic because rather than being the major tourist areas we were able to see everyday people celebrating life.  They had troikas, traditional clothing and singing, markets, sleigh rides, and even a camel!  (La Crosse is not the only place that has random things at our festivals!  I never thought I'd see a camel in the middle of Russia during winter!)

The troika is a common symbol in Russia.  It is a sleigh being pulled by three horses.  In this competition they had to do a specific routine, and were judged based on the horses' precision.  See how the two outside horses are arching their necks to the outside?  This is expected in order to be a traditional troika.

One of the choirs, in traditional clothing.

A common sight throughout Russia.  Many coats have fur, at least around the collar if not the entire coat.  Women's hats are very dressy and in this shape (usually fur).  Men also wear big fur hats as well.

We got to ride in a One Horse Open Sleigh!!!  Mrs Every and I couldn't help but sing Jingle Bells!

Another choir performing, while wearing traditional clothing.  I should have zoomed in on their hats - they're beautiful!

Why not have a camel in the middle of Russia?  It's a festival!

Next Stop....Vologda!

We leave this afternoon for Vologda, which is an ancient city in the North.  Its known for its decicious butter and sour cream, and also for its hand made lace.  Info on Vologda

I'm not sure what time we'll return on Monday but I will catch up again with posts then.  After Monday I should be able to blog regularly again!

Saint Petersburg - Part Four, Palace of Catherine

Yesterday we traveled about 45 minutes by subway and bus to go to The Palace of Catherine.  It was well worth the trip!

The front of the Palace

Our first day of sunshine, perfect for reflecting off the onion domes!

The ball room.  The Summer Palace (Catherine's Palace) is light and airy.  The ball room is full of windows and overlooks the grounds.  So beautiful!

The main dining room.  Much of the palace was destroyed in the 1940's during WWII.  It has been completely restored.  In this dining room table they remade the table, chairs, china, place settings, and even the table decorations according to old photographs.

A smaller dining room

An actual dress of Catherine the Great.  In this room was a painting of her wearing it!

Mrs Every in the hallway

One of the bedrooms

Again all of the floors were inlaid wood.  Each floor design was different.  I could do a whole blog post on the floors of palaces in St Petersburg!

Paintings of Peter and Catherine

Saint Petersburg - Part Two, The Winter Palace and Hermitage

Another place that I was really looking forward to seeing was the Winter Palace and Hermitage.  The Hermitage is an art museum that is one of the largest in the world - it's almost the same size as the Louvre!  Part of the Hermitage Includes the Winter Palace of Peter the Great and his wife Catherine the Great.  These two are heros in Russian History, and had the most lavish home I've ever seen!

Peter the Great

Catherine the Great, Later in her life 

The Winter Palace at Night

The Winter Palace from the square

A view of the entering staircase!

The Small Throne Room.  It didn't seem so small until we saw the main throne!

Before you enter the Main Throne Room there was this Hall of Heroes.  All of these men were heros in the war against Napoleon.  Each painting was over a foot and a half square!

The main throne and ballroom!  WOW!!!

A close up of the throne

Me with the throne

Details in some of the flooring.  All floor were made of inlaid wood, and the floor in every room was different.

The Peacock Clock was given as a gift to Catherine the Great.  It is in the picture below to the right.  It is at least 6 feet tall, built in the 1780's and still works!  They start it up only once a week because it is so fragile.  Wednesday was the day, and so we got to see it!  I wish you could see it in person, it was incredible.  Here is a brief video of all of the moving parts.  The best is the end when the peacock stretches it's neck.  It looks real!  Peacock Clock Video

Our Favorite, the Peacock Clock Room!

Staircase in the Peacock Clock Room

The Peacock Clock!

Then we began the art work.  I wish I had time to show it all to you - at one point our guide said, "And here is the Rembrandt Room."  We said, "Wow, and which one did he paint?"  Her answer was "All of them in this room!"

I counted 31 paintings by Rembrandt in this room.  Incredible!

We also saw Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Degas, Monet, Picasso, Matisse...the list goes on and on.  If I have time I'll make a whole separate post on these later!

By the end of the day we were completely exhausted, but thrilled as well.  What an incredible experience!

Saint Petersburg - Part One - Church of the Resurrection

There are many times in my life that everything seems just too good to be true!  This week has been one of them.  After seeing such incredible sights in Moscow I felt like there's just now way that anything could top it.

And then we arrived in St Petersburg!

Mrs Every had hosted a 10th grader from Dubna in her home this summer, and so this student's father helped arrange a trip to Saint Petersburg for us - complete with his assistant as our personal guide for three days!  I don't know what we would have done without Tatiana (probably we'd still be trying to find our first stop on the subway!)

Our first stop was the Church of the Resurrection.  It's also called The Church on the Spilled Blood, because the entire building was built around the spot where the tzar that abolished the peasant system (like our slavery) was murdered.

This Cathedral was built after the style of St Basil's in Moscow.

Here is the first view I saw as I came around the corner from the hallway.  It's stunning!

Every inch of the walls are covered, and the colors are vivid - especially the gold.  I then found out that there is not one painting in the entire Cathedral.  It is all mosaic tile!  If you look closely at the pillar to the right of this picture you can see the individual tiles.  Every tile was at least smaller than an inch!

A close up of some of the mosaics.

The iconostasis.  This separates the main alter from the rest of the Cathedral in all orthodox churches.  The golden doors remain shut, and only a priest can enter.  The only day of the year that the doors open and the alter is visible to anyone else is Easter Sunday.

Another view of the iconostasis.  I wish my photos could show more clearly how incredibly huge this was!

Inside the main dome, looking up

Also looking up.  One of the random things I've fallen in love with on this trip is lighting fixtures as seen from the bottom.  This is a giant chandelier.  

A view from at night with the moon.  

Next Posts...St Petersburg!

It's hard to believe we're here for a month, and yet our time is so short!  I got home last night, and tomorrow morning at 6am we leave again already for St Petersburg!  I will be there Tuesday through Thursday, and do not know if I will have internet in order to blog.  Hopefully my pictures of Moscow will tide you over!

We'll get home Thursday night, and leave again on Friday, for Vologda until Sunday night.  I'm tired just thinking about it!

Moscow, Part Three - Kremlin

It was also an incredible opportunity to go inside the Kremlin!  From Red Square you see a giant red wall.  This red wall is like a fortress wall that I'm guessing is at least a mile long.

From behind the wall there are buildings peeking over it.

The clock tower can be viewed from inside or outside the Kremlin.

I knew that the Kremlin was the government seat, and where Putin lives.  I did not know that there are lots of other buildings inside as well!

The Armory

Not sure the name of this one, but it is political offices.  The only modern building we saw inside the Kremlin.

The Senate

This is the cathedral where the tzars were all crowed.  It also holds the tzar's throne.

The Palace

The cathedral where tzars and royalty are buried.  Ivan the Terrible,  the Romanoff's,  WOW! 

The Bell Tower