The Golden Ring

Left the apartment in Moscow on Monday morning for the train station on the other side of town.  Fortunately the metro wasn't too crowded as we manipulated waaaay too much luggage up and down escalators and flights of stairs.  Arrived several hours early and used most of it to pick up onward tickets from Vladimir to St Petersburg.  The glacial speed of the lines made even India seem hasty and organized.  The air conditioned, very comfortable train left promptly at 2PM and we were in Vladimir 1:45 later, with the train reaching speeds of 99 MPH (they had a little gauge mounted in each car to indicate speed...in our case, 160KPH).  Our hotel, the Hotel Vladimir was advertised as being near the station.  It was but what they didn't mention is that the trek is straight uphill for about 1/4 mile.  After settling in to a room the size of a small closet, I took off for a stroll around town while Suzee nursed a cold.  Managed to catch a Russian Orthodox mass in the main cathedral (Assumption Cathedral, 1158); I loved the pageantry  This part of Russia is very flat, though the town of Vladimir sits on a plateau above a river and there's a popular pathway that allows locals to stroll and check out the river valley view.  The path ends near the old quarter, which includes some charming restaurants and shops as well as one of the original town gates and what's left of the ramparts.This gate was the Eastern town exit along the road to Siberia.  Not a pleasant site for political exiles.

Vladimir Cathedral of the Assumption

The Golden Ring consists of a series of towns NE of Moscow, all of which played an important role in the development of what is now Russia.  Several of the towns were capitals of the entire country. The capitals changed as various rulers and sons of rulers moved about.  Vladimir is caught between being an ancient city and modernization; because it has a rail line and various industries, it's no longer the small village it once was and visitors would do well to stay near the center where the history of the town is celebrated.

I got up very early the following morning and took a local bus about 10 miles to the dusty little town of  Bogolyubovo (got a nice ring to in, no?).  The main attraction is a World Heritage tiny cathedral, the Church of the Intercession on the Nerl.  Some consider it the most perfect church in Russia.

Church of the Intercession on the Nerl, Bogolyubovo

Suzdal View from Hotel

  Getting there involved a mile walk along a cobblestone path through a field and I was lucky to be alone on this short hike.
 Next, it was off to the second and final Golden Ring stop, the town of Suzdal.  Suzdal is considered THE destination of the Golden Ring.  The railroad bypassed the small town of about 15,000, thus it was never industrialized and managed to retain its village charm.  Tourism is the main industry now and weekenders flock here from Moscow to enjoy "the old Russia".  Fortunately, they haven't Disneyed it too much, though many roubles have been spent restoring the 40-odd churches around town.  Our three days in Suzdal offered a respite from the Moscow crowds and while I've seen enough Russian churches to last a lifetime, it was pleasant to walk the quiet streets of the town.  One continuing problem has been dining out.  Few places have menus in English and few people speak English here, thus the choice of restaurants becomes very limited and we've found ourselves eating at the same places more often than we would have liked.  While I was able to easily eat in restaurants far off the beaten path in rural Laos last year, its become a huge challenge in Russia and reminds me of traveling Eastern Europe some thirty years ago, before the fall of the Iron Curtain. Difference is that I could usually get by with some German.  Not here.   Grocery shopping is equally difficult unless the products have pictures.  The simple task of buying spaghetti sauce is challenging; got lucky yesterday when I found a promotional pack of spaghetti attached to a jar of red sauce. 

 

OK, the one on the left is easy, but what's in the other two?

After a leisurely three nights in Suzdal, it was back to the bus station for the trip to Vladimir where we'd catch the night train (Raleigh, Carolina!) to St Pete via Moscow.  Unfortunately, the train wasn't nearly as nice as the commuter we'd taken earlier and I can't say that it was even favorable to Indian sleeper trains, since there was no a/c.  Acceptable enough, however and even managed to sleep about 5 hours prior to arriving in St Petersburg at an ungodly 5:40AM.  Both still nursing colds and the pace is starting to wear us down.  Lots to see the next couple of days.