We started out the day at 9:30 on a Friday. We were all able to get off work and out of school. Hooray! Sadly, Fridays are known as "Dacha Day". This is when everyone leaves the city for the weekend and goes to their dachas (cabins). I foolishly thought that leaving in the morning would keep us out of dacha traffic. I was wrong! What should have taken us 3 1/2 hours ended up taking 9! So, after 2 hours in the car, and still not out of Moscow yet, we pulled over for some lunch at KFC.
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| This is a cool overpass that got us from one side of the street to the other. |
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| I find it funny that they have a no rollerblading, eating, pictures, and beer. Also, they have a separate sticker for ice cream cause, that is different than eating... So, with all of these things that we are not allowed to do in this restaurant, I have to ask, what are we allowed to do in there??? |
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| And even though there was a sticker telling me not to take any pictures, I did anyway... |
Our actual destination is a town named Suzdal. It is known for all of it's temples/churches and architecture.
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| This church came at about hour 7, in the town of Vladimir. It is the oldest standing, working Russian Orthodox church in Russia. It is amazingly beautiful and intricate. It was built in the 11th century. There is a replica of this church in Washington DC, which we also visited. |
We finally made it to our destination! This is the adorable house we stayed in. A man, his wife, and his daughter rent out most of their house to visitors. We stayed in two adjoining rooms and in another room, there was a husband, wife, and their grown daughter from Korea. We all shared the bathroom and the lovely hostess cooked us breakfast in the morning.
The house consisted of three pieces of art. Bwahahahaha!
Our amazing breakfast of blinis and cucumbers!
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| This is the backyard. Of course we had to get a tour. It was amazing as well!! |
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| Hands down, the biggest head of cabbage I have ever seen!! |
This is a working women's monastery. I had a hard time understanding what it is exactly they do here. So, of course, we googled what you do when you live at monastery or a convent. It all boils down to doing good for the community and lots of study of religious stuff and prayer.
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| Housing |
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| Abandon building at the monastery. I couldn't help but wonder who had walked where I was walking and what thier lives were like. I felt as if I were trespassing. |
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| The ever present Russian koshka (cat). |
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| Wouldn't you love to hear the stories this lady could tell?! |
Wooden Church
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| In America, people take lots of selfies. In Russia, people take lots of glamour shots. I saw a flower and had to have my glamour shot too. |
The beauty and sadness and hard work and harshness of this country moves me! One day, God will make it all as it should be!
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