enjoying Tyumen hot springs

So, what exactly is the hot springs, and how were they formed in Tyumen? As I’ve already mentioned, the Tyumen region is rich in oil. In the 70s of last century, geologists began to explore regions where oil could be extracted. They began to drill wells into the ground. But it turned out that out of some wells made by geologists very hot water run. The fact is that these wells were drilled in the regions, called geothermal areas where magma is located close enough to the surface and heats the overlying rocks. The ground waters circulate in pores and crevices of rocks and are heated. Going out to the surface ground waters form lakes of hot water with high content of mineral salts. Such steamy lakes could be often found in the Tyumen woods in the winters. The view is impressive.

Nowadays, a lot of such springs have become entertainment centers, where we headed headed for.
We arrived in Tyumen after 5 hours of driving under the bright sunny sky. The springs are located in the resort of “Upper pine forest”. We bought tickets and went inside. There is the hotel near the resort, equipped with changing rooms for bathers and showers. And also there is a cafe, a solarium, massage, rental, where you can buy everything necessary for bathing.

Dressed in swimsuits and sandshoes, wrapped in towels, at + 15 C we were willing to go outside. A thought came to our mind – Not so far but yesterday the winter was outside, and already today we found ourselves dressed in bathing suits going to bathe in the open air, leaving the boring winter behind. It inspired us and we went to the pool outside. Swimming pool consists of two bowls filled with mineral water; the temperature is always +40 ° C to +42 ° C. Water from the hot springs goes to the pool area of about 200 square meters. The bowls are located beside each other at different height levels with overflow of water from one to another.

What a bliss is the warming salt water under the sunny sky. Having warmed ourselves at the bottom bowl of the pool we felt ready to try the water in the upper bowl of the pool. Water at the top is much hotter, but the effect of warming is deeper. The duration of bathing in hot springs should not exceed 15 – 20 minutes; you should always take a break. That is why time elapsed for us very quickly.

As we stepped outside the pool and looked around we saw a sauna and a lake near by. In winter a hole is hacked in the lake so that people could dive in ice water. Having warmed up in the sauna we sat down on the bench and enjoyed this spring sunlight.

pool with the mineral hot water

the ice hole near the sauna

A few words about the usefulness of sources:
Even in ancient times people have discovered the healing power of natural hot springs that help in treating variety of diseases.
The composition of water: Mineral water “Tyumen-2 bromine, sodium chloride, the well number 10, the depth of 1233 m, the mineralization-75, at liter.
Chlorine 420 Calcium 1250 Magnesium 25
Bicarbonate 300 – 350 Potassium 38 Bromine 25 – 30
boron fluoride 0.76 35 Iodine 2.5 -5
acidity 75

After bathing we took a shower which is obligatory as the water is 50% of mineral salts and felt ourselves hungry. Our next destinations were Tyumen and Tobolsk, we will tell about them in the next post.

things to see in Urals: Kolpaki, Verkhoturye

Recently documentary series “the Ridge of Russia” appeared on russian TV. They tell russian history related to the Urals region and show its wonderful places. One of them is the mountain Kolpaki – natural reserve and the favourite point for people looking for wild nature of Urals.

After we saw this mountain on TV, we decided to go there and without “putting it in the cooler” for the time, on early Saturday morning we set out.

The mountain Kolpaki is situated not far from the border between the Sverlovskaya area and the Perm region. Additionally an idea arose to add one more point to our travel route – the ancient rural town Verkhoturye, founded in the end of 16th century, an orthodox center of Urals.

When we crossed the border between Sverdlovsk and Perm area, we saw the monument, which divides Europe and Asia. The monument is situated on the hill near the road and consists of the big white stele with continents’ names. Although the pathway to the monument is regularly cleaned we weren’t lucky and had to climb up over snowdrifts, that was really cheerful. The monument is very old and unfortunately entirely painted by local vandals.

the border between Serdlovsk and Perm areas

the way to Europe-Asia monument

We found the road to Kolpaki mountain after several losses of our way and consultations with locals. Several cars with people were already staying near the mountain. They went to the nature reserve to relax. They told us that climbing the mountain is about 300m by foot over the forest path and we began climbing.

It wasn’t difficult to climb the mountain, but it seemed to me that we went up about 1 km. When we climbed to the top of the mountain the amazing view took our breath away.

the view from Kolpaki mountain

The same time we understood why the mountain is called Kolpaki (Caps in translation to english). The reason is the form of rocks on the top of the mountain. They look like caps.

caps

peak

wonderful Urals forest

Coming down was easier than climbing up. We enjoyed walking over the virgin snow-clad forest.

After a short rest and a meal in the roadside cafe we moved further. It was about 200km to Verkhoturye and we arrived there in the evening.

the Saint Nicholas monastery

The first thing attracted our attention was the Saint Nicholas monastery with its beautiful church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. Later we were told that it’s the third biggest church in Russia after the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow and the Isaak Cathedral in St.Petersburg. The divine service was on in the church, so we decided to visit the monastery next day and went to the nearby hotel to have a rest.

On Sunday morning we began our historically informative tour over Verkhoturye. First of all we we visited the Saint Nicholas monastery founded in 1604 by hieromonk Iona. A young monastic novice agreed to be our guide and to lead us over the territory of the monastery.

Up to the beginning of the 18th century the monastery acted very important part – it was the only missionary point for West Siberia. That’s from the orthodoxy spread over all the wide region. In the beginning of the 18th century the monastery found the relics of Saint Simeon Verkhotursky – one of the most famous russian saints and became a widely known pilgrimage shrine.

Unfortunately from four churches of the monastery only three have been saved till nowadays, they are the church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, undoubtedly a gem of the monastery; the Transfiguration church and the church of Simeon and Anna. The fourth church was destroyed during the revolution and instead of it there is the Saint Nicholas church on its place. There is also the museum in the monastery and for small gift to charity somebody from novices will be glad to tell the history of this place.

the church of Simeon and Anna

church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross

In a five-minutes walk from the monastery there is a citadel founded in 1598. First of all it was a wooden fortress with administrative and utility structures, such as the house of a general, the treasury house and the church. During the century after its foundation the fortress was destroyed by fire several times, and finally in 1698 by the decree of Peter I the stone construction began. The fortress with walls, towers and the Trinity cathedral even nowadays adorns the town.

the Trinity cathedral

We were allowed to climb the bell tower of the cathedral – it has a really wonderful view of the town and outskirts.

in the bell tower

Verkhoturye town

panorama of Verkhoturye

The last point of our trip was the village Merkushino famous for the beautiful modern church – the cathedral of archangel Michael. It was built in 2004 on gifts of local private entrepreneurs. And it was very interesting for us to compare old churches having the centuries-old history with the modern church. Also on our way to Merkushino we met other interesting churches and took their pictures.

on the way to Merkushino

The temple of all saints who lit up in Siberia

the cathedral of archangel Michael

Leaving this place we understood why it is called the orthodox center of Urals – the big amount of unique churches amaze with their beauty, acting monasteries with its holy founts and miracles make this land a very attractive place for believers and connoisseurs of the ancient beauty.

the GULAG museum Perm-36

One of the most terrible pages of newest history of Russia is the repression period, the time of GULAG. We decided that for better understanding of this period we have to merge into the atmosphere of that time. That’s why we went to the unique GULAG museum, which was founded by people who were convicted in political crime and exonerated after the USSR destruction.

The museum was founded on remains of the prison camp Perm-36 for political prisoners. This prison camp was founded in 1940 during the GULAG period and was closed in 1988, when “perestroika” started in USSR. The camp was designed to hold 1000 prisoners and contained few barracks, auto repair shops, depots and administrative buildings. Prisoners worked on logging and small technical works which didn’t require professional skills.

History of the camp has few periods during which the the camp was a prison for criminals, a place of detention for officers of Ministry of Home Affairs after Stalin’s death and his conviction, a camp for special danger political prisoners, who had particular treatment, when prisoners saw only bars on a window and a brick wall behind the window for many years. The camp was closed in 1988. After that the part of its buildings, such as the burglar alarm, was dismantled, and the other began to deteriorate rapidly. But the decision to reconstruct the prison camp to the museum stopped destruction.

So, we’re staying near the entrance door of the new administrative building of the camp, which was built during the last period of the prison. It’s only left to open the door and turn out behind the bars, the fences and the barbed wire. When we freely and without any checks went through the pass area we found ourselves in the square with a side about 700 meters, which was walled by several fences and lines of barbwire. The electronic security system wasn’t preserved, but the view of the walls helps to imagine it.

administrative building of the camp

remains of the security system

Thereby we are inside the area of the high security. It’s noteworthy that during the last camp period there were two security modes in the the camp: high and special, which varied significantly by prisoners, stretches and conditions.

Our guide Sergey leaded us in the camp along the high security buildings. He told us the history of this place and about prisoners who were serving their sentence and often were staying in this place forever.

the GULAG exhibition

The museum contains saved buildings of the camp headquarters, the house of penalty isolation, administrative buildings, the high security barrack, the building of the camp club, remains of internal fences. Unfortunately when we visited to the camp the special security area was under a restoration, but our guide told us that the restoration finishes in summer.

the freedom path; the barrack on the left, the club on the right

In the last of the saved barracks there is a museum with an exhibition about GULAG, where there are many photos, documents, reconstructions and things regarding prisoners, the camp and GULAG in whole. Also in the barrack there are some rooms restored in the form they were while the camp was functioning.

a prisoner

behind bars

plank beds

When we went out of the barrack, we came to the house of penalty isolation of a high security. As our guide said, the administration could put a prisoner there for any thing, such as a button sewn incorrectly, too freely smile in the column, incorrect answer to the overseer and other similar things. While the high security area was a camp, the penalty isolation area was really a prison. In the wards, which were constructed to hold 2 prisoners, people were staying for few weeks, a meal was very scant and not every day. The same time the prisoners had to work, but not on the tree felling as other prisoners in the high security area – they laboured inside the isolation area on works, which didn’t require a mental processes. For example, they did cable terminals for popular electric irons.

the house of penalty isolation

the prison cell

After the penalty isolation area Sergey invited us to go to the camp club. This club placed some services, the cinema, and rooms of investigators worked inside the camp. Thеy say that walls in the investigator’s rooms was unreasonable wide, because nobody should know what was happening on аn interrogation.

The most interesting exhibition in the club, created by the founders of the museum, is photos of people who condemned, people who were imprisoned, people who dead in the camp. When we looked at these photos we could imagine that from the active part of soviet people only 10-15 people from the high government could feel safe, while all the others had a chance to go to the similar political camps.

inside the club, the inscription tells Marxism is eternal because it's true

After we see a video about the camp in the club, the museum and it’s history, we’re going out. The last photo of me behind the bars and.. freedom!

from inside

Visiting this place made us to understand feelings of people, who were unfairly arrested and imprisoned for 5-10-15-25 years. The museum dramatically recreates the atmosphere of the past which is impossible to forget.

the Church on the Blood

The Church was built on the site of the house of engineer Ipatieff, where the royal family Nikolai II, his wife, sun and four daughters were assassinated and the 300 year old monarchy of the Romanov dynasty came to an end.

In April 1918 because of the onset of white army the Ural Regional Council (Urals Bolsheviks – Russian Social-Democratic Workers’ Party) decided to confiscate the house to carry out a hasty assassination over the royal family in it.

Yakov Yurowski was appointed a commandant of the house. He offered to invite the royal family into the basement in pretence of giving them a shelter, then he told them that «their friends» (the white army) were coming up and therefore they are sentenced to death, the shootings followed.

the royal family

The bodies were rolled in blankets and thrown into the truck, waiting outside the house. The truck drove into the woods in the region called Ganya’s pit (“Ganina Yama”). Bolsheviks stripped the bodies and burned the clothing. Then the bodies were supposed to be thrown down into the flooded mine, but it turned out that the water had frozen. It was decided to use other mines the ones closer to the Yekaterinburg.

The truck with the bodies drove back to Yekaterinburg along the Koptyakosky road. But on the way to the mines the truck got stuck in a swamp. The night was on its off and Yurovsky came an idea to bury the bodies under the side of the road in the swamp. To hide the burial place they decided to erect a kind of bridge from sleepers over it so that the off-road could be passed.

The cruel assassination crumbled the foundations on which our Orthodox realm stood for century. The cathedral oath of eternal loyalty, given by people of Russian State to the Romanov’s dynasty in 1613, was broken. Those days, St. Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow said: «A terrible thing is done – Tsar Nikolai Aleksandrovich was assassinated. We must condemn this matter; otherwise the blood of the assassinated will fall on us.»

With time the house of Ipatieff become a pilgrimage place and each 17th of July flowers were put in front of the house in memory of the royal family. But later in 1977 the house was destroyed by the decree of Yeltsin.

However, even after the destruction the idea of pilgrimage to the holy place wasn’t lost. At the wasteland, where once the house of Ipatief stood, faithful people began to gather.

the cross to the royal family

In August 2000, it’s been accomplished what the Orthodox Russian people were waiting for so many years. At the Bishops’ Council Jubilee, held in Moscow, the royal family was canonized and on the site of assassination the construction of the temple started.

On the 16th of July 2003 the temple was consecrated and opened. This night the five-hour church service was carried in the temple in memory of Nicholas II and his family.

By various estimates from 7 to 8 thousand people attended it. The service was led by Archbishop of Yekaterinburg and Verkhotursk Vincent. After the service, at 05.10 a.m. in the morning, a column of 50 clerics, led by Bishop Vikenty, went in procession to the monastery located at Ganya’s Pit. As noted by witnesses, chanting, that accompanied the orthodox way, could be heard several blocks from the moving column. The procession, which was also attended by about 8 thousand people, arrived at the monastery at Ganya’s Pit at 09. 30 a.m.

At the inlet to the Church you can see a big monument representing the descent of 7 people – Nikolai and his family into the basement. Externally, the building is in white and purple colors, recalling the blood spilled here, the facade is decorated with icons of Russian saints.

The church consists of two temples: the lower and upper one. The upper temple symbolizes the ever-burning lamp in memory of the tragic events. It’s a spacious room lit up with plenty of sunshine. The iconostasis is inside, and from the aperture of a door you can see the place of execution of the royal family.

The lower temple is situated at the place where the basement of Ipatieff house stood and is made in a more restrained style. Here is a museum dedicated to the last days of life of the Romanovs, you can see the remains from Ipatieff house.

the lower temple

Inside the temple a guide will meet you and led to the scene of the assassination decorated with icons and show you the miraculous icon depicting the holy royal family.

You can go outside to have a little walk around the Church. You can see a small wooden chapel, a greatmartyr Elizabeth chapel built before the main building – and is unique monument of Christian resistance that has withstood after numerous vandalism arsons.

You can also see the patriarchal farmstead that includes the proper patriarchal rooms, chapel of Saint Nicholas, a library, as well as a number of halls and rooms for various church activities of high level.

near the church

Nowadays on the territory of the church there is a parochial school for children where the bible courses are held. And Every year on the night of 16 to 17 July 11.30 p.m. to 04.00 a.m. a many hours Liturgy in memory of the royal family is carried out in the church, which is completed with the traditional 25-kilometer procession to Ganya’s Pit.

Shrovetide train

Today, in one of sunny spring days we want to tell you how russian people greet spring.
Since earliest times the Shrovetide is celebrated in Russia in honour of spring coming – a holiday week with pancakes baking and street festivities.

The tradition to bake pancakes came to us from slavs. They took spring as a source of new life and hallowed the sun which gives light and warm for everything alive on the earth. First they baked unleavened cakes in honor of the sun, and when they learnt how to make a batter they baked pancakes. Pancakes were considered as a symbol of the sun, because they are also yellow, round and hot. Slavs believed they ate a piece of the sun, its heat and power.

Besides pancakes baking other traditions have been saved which make this celebration special. E.g. in the last day of the Shrovetide week people give a send-off to winter by burning
the Shrovetide scarecrow (or the scarecrow of winter in another words). Usually the scarecrow is made of straw which is dressed in frock and headscarf. A fire with the Shrovetide scarecrow symbolizes a death of winter with all obsolete and old together with a birth of spring and nature renewal.

The Shrovetide is usually celebrated on the last week before the Great Fast of Lent, seven weeks before Easter. This year the Shrovetide week was in the middle of February, and supposedly especially for the celebration cold winter weather temporarily retreated.
In Yekaterinburg the Shrovetide was celebrated in lots of places. Even in yards people went out, burnt the Shrovetide scarecrow, baked and ate pancakes. But two main centers of celebration were in parks, and we decided to visit them with our camera.

First of all we went to the Haritonov’s park, as it’s nearer. In spite of we arrived to the park before the celebration was opened, there were a lot of people. They were walking over the park and especially organized trade fair. Children were playing on the snow fort, built for the celebration. Some people were staying near the scene and waiting for the official opening of the celebration.

the Shrovetide scarecrow

walking people

The Shrovetide fair

About 11 a.m a herald climbed the scene and began reading out a decree about the Shrovetide. Such jocular decrees became popular at the end of 18th century. They usually contained directions about the celebration, made fun of famous people present at the celebration and last town events.

the herald

Then the concert with folk groups and performers began. They sang russian national songs about the Shrovetide and spring and danced. Near the scene playgrounds were opened for the valiant entertainments: wrestling contests, the competition “play accordion”, a theatre for children, riding, sledge riding, snowmobiles and others.

folk performance

traditional russian funs

As the favourite russian national fun “fight wall on wall” was started after 2 o’clock, we decided to go to another celebration place – the central park of culture and rest.

The central park of culture and rest

We could walk over the park all day long – so many places with different entertainments were there, but it was time to return to the Haritonov’s park to watch fights “wall on wall”.

The fight “wall on wall” is a traditional russian national fun. Its sense is in fist fight between two lines of people. Men in the age from 18 to 60 can take part in the “wall on wall” fight. The amount of fighters can vary from 10 up to hundreds. The goal of the fight is conditioning and rising of a fight spirit of russian men.

Each group of fighters had its own practice to prepare to the fight and its own stimulus to raise the morale.

fight spirit rising

Before the fight there were funny small fights between pairs. One man from the pair held his partner by legs and a partner moved by hands. The aim of this competition was to knock down the opposite pair.

the pairs

Despite the fight sometimes looks like a random fist fight “each with each”, it has the rules: don’t hit on a head, don’t attack from the back, hit only by hand, save comrads and if you burst over the opposite wall, you have to go around the fight to your wall. It is assumed that a wall of fighters wins the fight after it has moved the opposite wall from its territory.

the fight wall on wall

Fights “wall on wall” in the Haritonov’s park were amazing. We successfully took photos from inside of the fight.

ready to fight

inside the fight

Finally it was time to burn the Shrovetide scarecrow and say goodbye to winter. The scarecrow was burning, people were happy to meet warmth and the sun. They circled dances around the fire and ate pancakes. Here we ended our immersion to national funs and came home a little tired but happy.

Nevyansk

On the 30th of January we went to Nevyansk – the oldest city-plant in the Urals. The weather forecast was good enough for that day, so early in the morning we began the journey. Our goal was to see how the Demidov’s empire began, and to hear one of the most interesting pages in the history of the Urals.
Nevyansk was founded by a decree of Peter I in 1701 in connection with the foundation of ironworks. This was the first city-plant in the world. One year later Peter I granted the plant to Nikita Demidovich Antufiev together with new surname “Demidov”. That’s how the Demidov’s dynasty appeared.
Nevyansk is located in 80km from Yekaterinburg and it took us about an hour to get there. The road to Nevyansk comes through the foothills of the Middle Urals and is like russian roller coaster.

Upon arrival to Nevyansk we easily found the museum of the city history and the famous Leaning Tower of Demidov’s family. The museum was founded in 1947. That time it was one of the best museums in Russia and the center of local history work in the Sverdlovsk area. The museum’s collection describes the Urals trades: a chest trade, cobbler, blacksmith, weaving, pottery and gold-mining. The collection also contains metal exhibits, coins and documents related to the history of the city and the region.
In the museum’s ticket office we found out that we can walk over the exposure on our own, but if we want to climb the tower we have to take a guide. We decided to take a guide immediately, without waiting for the tower. It was very good decision, because we heard a fascinating story about the city and past of the Urals region illustrated by museum pieces.
After the museum we were invited to visit the leaning tower containing the laboratory of Akinfiy Demidov, special acoustic room and a famous clockwork.
The tower is located in the center of Nevyansk and there are different legends about it. It was built in the first half of the XVIII century to order of Akinfiy Demidov. The tower is 57.5 meters high and its deviation from the vertical is about 1.85 meters. The exact date of construction and its architect are unknown.

leaning tower

look up

climbing the tower

Inside the tower is divided into several floors. The purpose of the first floor is unknown, on the second floor Demidov’s office was located, the third held the laboratory and on the fourth there is the acoustic room. This room is one of the wonders of the tower. Its effect is two people standing in opposite corners turned to the wall can hear each other even if they speak in a whisper, but a person standing between them can’t hear their talk. On the seventh floor there is a clockwork made by Richard Phelps, it plays different melodies every 15 minutes. The tower finishes with broach spire, which has grounding – thus the tower was equipped with a lightning rod a quarter century before it was designed by Benjamin Franklin.

the clockwork

After visiting the museum and the tower we went to the Spaso-Preobrazhenski Cathedral situated nearby and then had a lunch. Three more destinations were in out route.

Peter I and Nikita Demidov

the Spaso-Preobrazhenski Cathedral

view from the other side

The first was the village byngi with the temple of St. Nicholas. While we were going there we enjoyed views of the winter and urals nature.

the temple of St. Nicholas

the road

Byngi is a settlement of Old Believers, that’s why the temple has famous icons of old nevyansk school. Another feature of this temple is it wasn’t destroyed during the Soviet era, and kept its internal decoration with the atmosphere of the XIXth century.
The second place was the village Nizhnie Tavolgi famous for the pottery. There it’s possible to see various skillful items of pottery and (!which is the most interesting) to get a lesson and create something beautiful by your hands.

the village Tavolgi

the pottery house

Along the way home we decided to make the last stop in the ski resort Ezhovaya, to see the Urals from the mountain.

the Urals, Ezhovaya mountain

mountain's cafe

Watching photos at home, we were thinking of this day with pleasure. The history of the Urals with the combination of urals nature gave us unforgettable impressions.

annual events in Yekaterinburg

January: Epiphany with swimming in ice hole – extremely popular activity for brave people
when: 19th of January, where: city lake Shartash

February: Shrovetide with street festivities
when: 13th and 14th of February, where: Central park of culture and rest (CPKIO Park)

May: the Military Parade of World War II
when: 9th of May, where: the square of 1905 year (Ploshchad 1905 goda)

May: Museums’ night – all main museums open at night and several city shows are available
when: 16th of May (but date may vary each year), where: in the city centre (the square of 1905 year), in most of museums

May: “May walking” – all fans of cycling and walking moves over several routes (26km, 46km)
when: day may vary, where: starting point may vary

museums night

August: City birthday
when: 18th of August, where: all over the city, mainly in its center – the square of 1905 year

September: Day of Knowledge, children wearing smart clothes go to school with flowers for their teachers
when: 1st of September, where: everywhere in Yekaterinburg and Russia

November: skiing resorts of Urals open
when: after snowfalls, where: near Yekaterinburg (in 40km) there are Pilnaya mount, Teplaya mount and Volchiha mount, and two beautiful resorts are Ezhovaya and Belaya (in 100-150 km)

Probably there are also interesting ones I haven’t mentioned.
P.S. Other months are good for visiting too, for example on March a spring begins, and on October nature is the most beautiful cause it’s gold autumn.

the Military Parade

May walking

May walking, checkpoint

City birthday

St. Petersburg in winter

the Kazansky Cathedral

our friendly company

queue to the Hermitage

inside the Hermitage, I

inside the Hermitage, II

inside the Hermitage, III

4th of January, Monday
It was the last day of our journey, that’s why we woke up early in the morning and set off to the excursion to Petropavlovskaya Krepost (Peter and Paul’s Fortress). This place is considered as the historical core of the city. The first stone of the fortress was laid in 1703 to “close” the Neva river and protect the city. But it was never used for these goals and rather held political prisoners.

Peter and Paul's Fortress

The Petropavlovsky Cathedral

view from the other side

inside the cathedral

prison cell

inside the museum

car from the past

view from museum's window

When we left the territory of the fortress we decided to see the famous Spas-na-krovi Cathedral (Saviour on the blood). Our route came through the Marsovo pole (Mars field) and Mikhailovskiy Sad (the Mikhailovskiy garden).

Saviour on the blood

near the cathedral

Unfortunately we didn’t have time for St Isaak’s Cathedral with the panorama of the city as it was time to get on the train home.
Somebody can say that it’s better to see St. Petersburg in spring or in summer and I agree with him. It’s so because of its wet climate. Therefore I think we’ll visit it again.
In conclusion several pictures of evening St. Petersburg:

the monument for empress Ekaterina II

rostral column

frozen Neva river

Aurora cruiser

And my favourite:

evening St. Petersburg

another one

and one more

Russian New Year

The Red Square

People awaiting New Year

Moscow chiming clock

After the long walk we slowly went home, where our friends and a holiday table were waiting for us. This was very striking and memorable meeting with New Year.
1st of January, Friday
The next day after having a good sleep we set off for a walk again – this day the VDNKH Park (VDNKH is an abbreviation for exhibition of achievements in national economy) and the Ostankino Tower were planned. The VDNKH Park is a good place for a walk with beautiful buildings where different exhibitions are staged. There is the museum of astronautics nearby, but unfortunately it was closed that day.

The VDNKH Park

Another view of VDNKH

Sunny day in the park

frozen fountain

Karelia's exhibition hall

Armenia's exhibition hall

frozen aircraft

Stella under the museum of astronautics

The Ostankino Tower

Throw the window on the floor

A view from the Ostankino Tower

Near the Red Square

Vasily Blazhenny Cathedral

Kremlin wall

memoral of human vices

Luzhkov bridge

Tretyakovskaya gallery

bridge to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior

Moscow State University

evening Moscow