St John the Baptist monastery and its rather 'oriental' church is the jewel of Vjaz'ma. It offers a place of tranquillity and time to reflect. Branches of birch trees decorate the interior for reasons I cannot explain.
A single fortified tower rebuilt in recent times represents the former extensive Kremlin completely destroyed by Napoleon's army. It appears in the sculptured bronze plate with defenders surrounding it. Numerous Lenin statues, many memorials to fallen heroes and an eternal flame burns to remind all of the sacrifices made!!
A young Russian woman with some English helps me make some travel enquiries. Her mother is Turkish yet she is Buddhist and an open minded. She works for the Military and suggests big spending is taking place here and little in comparison for the average person. The place to find 'real' Russia is east of the Urals - Siberia, she says!
Can you believe the news!!!???? Leaving EU!!!! Glad to see pics of you xxx
ReplyDeleteWords fail me over the EU outcome. Your move is soon enough not to be influenced by the decision x
ReplyDelete