Getting into the real Russia

In Vladimir, I met Yulia, another Couchsurfer who was to host me for two nights. Yulia seemed very direct at first and her manner showed a lot of independence and self-confidence. I suppose she is like that as she has lived alone since she was 16. She grew up in Murmansk and speaks Russian, English and German. The day we met she got her diploma in Spanish, which she learned without going to any classes and she has only spent 3 weeks in Spain!!! She spoke Spanish really well and was aggressive in Spanish as well :s

She showed me around the town a bit and then we went to a bar to celebrate her diploma. A load of her friends arrived and things got fun as they made me drink vodka, especially a guy called Aleksi who could drink half a litre of vodka with his meal. After the bar, the party went on in Yulia’s house. We went in one of her friend’s cars; said car was very special – it didn’t have a front seat and they told me that at one time there was only one door so everyone came in and out through the same door in some kind of circus act.

It was a lot of fun inside the car, meant for 4 passengers but fitting 6, so some people had to keep low so the police wouldn’t stop us. I remember those times in Colombia where we put however many people would fit into a car, not like in boring England where people never let in more passengers than what is allowed by law – not even if the ground is burning up around them. In Yulia’s house they got out more vodka and we drank Russian-style, meaning you take a swig of vodka, a few sips of juice and then take a couple of bites of a tomato or cucumber.

I was shocked by how those Russians dance to a load of American pop music that I’d never heard in my life, and their dances were all well choreographed with style and they moved well. . I was not gifted to do any dancing, so I stepped aside and let them carry on with their coreography. I ended up spending the night speaking French (what little I can) with Aleksi, discussing politics, Russia and Colombia.

Yulia recommended a place that is very special to her, a church called Nerl on the outskirts of Vladimir, her favourite place in the whole of Russia. When I arrived I didn’t understand why, but after a while I realised that it’s a very simple but beautiful and peaceful place. A church in the middle of the countryside by a river that reflects the beautiful simplicity of this sacred place.

The next day I left for Suzdal, a village that Tanya had recommended and that the guidebook describes as ‘chickens by the church’ (and you do see chickens, cows and goats walking around everywhere). It’s a really small town where you see dozens of churches!! At one point there was a church for every 8 inhabitants, but many have been destroyed with time. Now it’s the perfect place to walk around, see some church services, admire the typical Russian architecture with many wooden houses (without using nails) with detailed windowpanes. In general it’s great for winding down after the big city.

The following day I went back to Vladimir where I was to take the first of several long distance trains. This train lasted 46 hours from Vladimir to Novosibirsk in eastern Siberia. My stories on this train and in Siberia will be the topic of another post..