Wednesday, 12 May 2010
Kazan, Russia
Introduced to tea Russian style. Served in a cut glass mug in an ornate pewter holder. Very posh.
Having travelled the 500 miles to Kazan overnight it’s an early morning visit to its UNESCO listed Kremlin. Technically, we’re in the Republic of Tatarstan, an autonomous region for Turkic Muslims, the Tatars.
Greeted by a beautiful young woman in national dress bearing traditional sweets. A sort of sticky/treacly rice concoction. The highlight of the Kremlin complex is the Kul Sharif Mosque built in 2005 to replace the original 16th century mosque that was destroyed by Ivan the Terrible. The bluest sky imaginable really sets off its striking white minarets. Once inside though it’s pretty basic as mosques go. On the other hand, the nearby 16th century Anunciation Cathedral has a large and impressive iconostasis screen and is notable for its cast iron floor tiles. Presumably for heating in the winter and keeping cool in the summer.
Whilst on a river cruise along the Volga start chatting with a couple from Sheffield. Turns out they’re dentists. Turns out they went to Uni with my dentist. Small world. Now have a few stories to wind my dentist up with.
Flying visit to Kazan as the train departs 1330hrs for Yekaterinburg. In anticipation of our visit to Tsar Nicholas’s murder scene there’s a one hour video presentation put on. I’d like to say how informative it was.
But.
Fell asleep.
Along with a few others.
