Three Days In Moscow We crammed a lot into the 3 full days in Moscow, one was spent on a day trip to Aleksandrov, or more precisely "Aleksandrova Sloboda" the original palace and headquarters of the Tsar "Ivan the Terrible" it's now a working monastery and museum, situated about a 2 mile walk from Aleksandrov train station. The modern town of Aleksandrov is in the typically boring Soviet style, so of no real interest. We have been told by several people if you only visit one ancient monument in all of Russia, then Aleksandrova Sloboda should be the one, and after a day wandering around the site on a beautiful autumn day I have to agree.... The Sapsan train we arrived on is a lot like airline travel, it travels at up to 155mph and is very comfortable, with all the facilities of an airline. It's only about 3.5 hours now for a journey that took 7 to 8 hours before. If you book a month in advance and with our senior discount, we can travel for about $15 each way, which is remarkably cheap really...so I can see it becoming a regular weekend trip... The train, ours was the one on the left... On Board The Drivers cab Lisa watching a movie and dozing I think From the sales brochure The train to Alexsandrov was lot more basic than the one from St.Petersburg, but full of characters and musicians playing old Russian folk songs on various instruments. En route from the carriage window Arrival at Aleksandrov The station and nearby church..
"Aleksandrova Sloboda" the original palace and headquarters of the Tsar "Ivan the Terrible" is a brisk 40 minute walk from the train station, and though when we arrived it was grey and gloomy, during the walk it turned into a beautiful sunny day, so we were lucky in the end. Here are some photos of the grounds, which are now devoted to a monastery and various places of worship, plus museums..... Our first view from the road... The Entrance Many churches and Ivan's Palace The Administration Block The entrance to the monastery which is not open to the public...
This is the bell tower and we both climbed this one, the steps were stone and safe.. The View From The Top Going Down
Every now and then you come across decorated carriages on the Metro here in St.Petersburg, this particular set we have travelled on a few times, it is advertising a book fair and very well done, both inside and out.
A Morning at a Model Exhibition of St.Petersburg in the 18th century We spent several hours at this exhibition in the end, it was truly an amazing experience the attention to detail is staggering. Around every 20 minutes the lights would dim to a night view, plus as you progressed around the exhibition you moved through the seasons... Here are some photos I took and a couple of links to the website plus promotional videos. Links: peteraqua.ru/en/videos/ peteraqua.ru/en/
I'm just overwhelmed, I never saw this thread @Terry Page but I see it was up a long time. I am fascinated with Russia, and the beauty of the architecture, the way folks survive the harsh weather, and that train, how much, more high-tech that looks that anything we have (that I know of anyway). Beautiful photos and it must have been so wonderful to be there!!
We walked part of the way back and then caught a trolleybus here are a few photos: The frozen river Moika Coffee stop....we didn't Waiting for the trolleybus From the window..
WOW ! ! ! That was just SO incredible and fascinating, @Terry Page ! I watched the video, and it is awesome how everything is not only perfect for size, but the ships actually sail, the horses pull the carriages down the street, and even the teeny-tiny chickens move around and peck corn. The detail that went into this is simply beyond amazing. I love how the whole village goes dark and is lit up for nighttime, too. Your pictures are wonderful, but watching that video and actually seeing everything in motion is almost like being there. Thank you for sharing this with all of your "armchair travelers" like myself ! !
The largest city I ever live "right in the middle of" was Portland Oregon Now I'm so used to small towns, I think I'd be lost in a big city. But how exciting, and the tons of things to do and see must be wonderful
My Afternoon at the Clinic Not long after I arrived for my current visit to Lisa, I slipped on the ice and fell down hard on my side, bruising my shoulder and hip, I didn't think I had broken any bones, so limped home and thought nothing of it. However after a week the pain became much worse and I could barely walk one morning for the pain which was so sharp it took my breath away. So we made an appointment at a local private clinic and went by taxi because I wouldn't have been able to manage the metro escalators. I saw the trauma consultant who was a bit like a young version Billy Bob Thornton in Goliath ....He could understand English perfectly but was out of practice speaking it, so Lisa translated his answers. After an examination he sent me for an X-ray which showed no broken bones and very slight signs of the beginning of arthritis but nothing wrong with the hip joint at all really. The bruising and damage to the ligaments etc., were causing all the pain. He prescribed Nimesil an anti-inflammatory, Glucosamine for bone maintenance and arthritis prevention, and a muscle healing ointment, to be applied twice daily as a poultice with a vodka rub, my ears pricked up when I heard the word vodka, but it was only medicinally, not for internal use I took the meds which are in powder form a couple of hours ago, and at the moment amazingly I feel virtually pain free. I have noticed over the years from Lisa's experiences that Russian doctors use both allopathic and complementary medicines, which intrigues me. I must say I was very impressed with the whole experience, and as a private patient it cost me only $45 altogether including a meds and a CD of the X-rays which I will post here,..... they are X rated by the way A couple of weeks later I am fully recovered and the good news is since I limped into the corner shop here while I was recovering, they now give me a 20% pensioners discount on all I buy including alcohol, so every cloud has a silver lining... The Meds The X-Rays