Some photos from my little road trip (image heavy)
Hey guys,
I've been back a couple of days, sorting things out. I uploaded some photos as promised for those curious. In short, I traveled to North West from Moscow, to a place called Valdai where my friend and I stayed for about a week. It's a beautiful resort, very quiet and calming. It's a very small town situated beside a huge lake. Next to it, there are several other lakes, all of which are exceptionally beautiful. It's true Norse nature, with pine trees tall as ship's masts, soft moss, cowberry, blueberry, little streams, and forest lakes. The air is literally sweet, I kid you not, which was like a fairytale come alive for us, who came from the city choking on smog, where everyone was turned into a heavy smoker whether they liked it or not.
Some photos of Valdai here. I couldn't access my photo edit program, so I apologize in advance for the poor quality. You're seeing the pictures as I was taking them, raw. Sorry about that. I organized them though.
The nature of Valdai. I wouldn't mind having that kind of parking lot here, either. ;) Also, you wouldn't believe that water. It's literally magical.
When we'd been there a couple of days, we decided to make an additional trip of 132 km to go see the town called Veliky Novgorod. It's one of the oldest in Russia, and has quite a history, though nowadays it doesn't play any important part, and is merely a tourist attraction. I've been there once before as a school girl with my class, but it was quite some time ago. What struck me most now about it were the people. Living in a big city, it's easy to forget how friendly our people can get. I was impressed by the quiet pride they have in their city, none of the aggressive type we capital folks have.
I was also stunned by how smart and knowledgeable they were. We were lucky enough to come in the middle of a folk festival, with all kinds of medieval attractions. We were taught the ancient alphabet by a guy who wore a costume and played his part to the letter, but who, I suspect, had about three PhDs in linguistics, and quite possible a couple of more in history and archeology. Amazing. Same goes for the guide who took us to an archeological site. The look on her face when she was telling us about the findings they made, the quiet professionalism she exuded, the sheer amount of knowledge she had at the top of her mind were unbelievable. None of it accompanied by smugness or any sense of superiority or hurt pride. Those people love their town the way it is, and it's literally heartwarming.
Cold latte was my new favorite:
I don't think these guys knew what was going on in my head. :D
Of course what part of the folk festival would I like best but the dancing celts? Also, below is the 'current' money. Needed some to buy a souvenir. ;)
The guy who taught us the alphabet, his helper, and my souvenir of course. ;)
Just the charming town of Novgorod and it's very own delight -- the lake Ilmen', also known as the Slavic Sea in ancient times. About 10 km wide.
All in all, it was a wonderful trip, one I wouldn't mind making another time some day. ;)
I've been back a couple of days, sorting things out. I uploaded some photos as promised for those curious. In short, I traveled to North West from Moscow, to a place called Valdai where my friend and I stayed for about a week. It's a beautiful resort, very quiet and calming. It's a very small town situated beside a huge lake. Next to it, there are several other lakes, all of which are exceptionally beautiful. It's true Norse nature, with pine trees tall as ship's masts, soft moss, cowberry, blueberry, little streams, and forest lakes. The air is literally sweet, I kid you not, which was like a fairytale come alive for us, who came from the city choking on smog, where everyone was turned into a heavy smoker whether they liked it or not.
Some photos of Valdai here. I couldn't access my photo edit program, so I apologize in advance for the poor quality. You're seeing the pictures as I was taking them, raw. Sorry about that. I organized them though.
The nature of Valdai. I wouldn't mind having that kind of parking lot here, either. ;) Also, you wouldn't believe that water. It's literally magical.
When we'd been there a couple of days, we decided to make an additional trip of 132 km to go see the town called Veliky Novgorod. It's one of the oldest in Russia, and has quite a history, though nowadays it doesn't play any important part, and is merely a tourist attraction. I've been there once before as a school girl with my class, but it was quite some time ago. What struck me most now about it were the people. Living in a big city, it's easy to forget how friendly our people can get. I was impressed by the quiet pride they have in their city, none of the aggressive type we capital folks have.
I was also stunned by how smart and knowledgeable they were. We were lucky enough to come in the middle of a folk festival, with all kinds of medieval attractions. We were taught the ancient alphabet by a guy who wore a costume and played his part to the letter, but who, I suspect, had about three PhDs in linguistics, and quite possible a couple of more in history and archeology. Amazing. Same goes for the guide who took us to an archeological site. The look on her face when she was telling us about the findings they made, the quiet professionalism she exuded, the sheer amount of knowledge she had at the top of her mind were unbelievable. None of it accompanied by smugness or any sense of superiority or hurt pride. Those people love their town the way it is, and it's literally heartwarming.
Cold latte was my new favorite:
I don't think these guys knew what was going on in my head. :D
Of course what part of the folk festival would I like best but the dancing celts? Also, below is the 'current' money. Needed some to buy a souvenir. ;)
The guy who taught us the alphabet, his helper, and my souvenir of course. ;)
Just the charming town of Novgorod and it's very own delight -- the lake Ilmen', also known as the Slavic Sea in ancient times. About 10 km wide.
All in all, it was a wonderful trip, one I wouldn't mind making another time some day. ;)