Golden Rings Towns in Russia 2015

25 May, 2015

Our Explore Tour in Russia included 3 days travelling through the historic Golden Rings Towns  known as the Zolotoye Koltso. These ancient towns are said to represent the historic spirit of the Russian people. There are many of them but we visited the 3 major towns of Sergiev Posad, Vladimer and Suzdal in the Rostov Veliky. We  all were overwhelmed by the beauty of the golden and colourful domes as well as  the great bell tower which were highlighted against the dazzling blue sky. 

The Cathedrals of the Assumption (1185-89)  and St Demetrius (1194-97) in  Vladimer were splendid. as was the Kremlin (fortress or citadel) and  Field Museum of Wooden Architecture in Suzdal.

In fact we saw so many "Kremlins and beautiful domes that we ended up being "domed out" however our guides where amazing and showed us so many Russian historical sights that we now feel inspired to read more about Russia. history. Well maybe!

Some of our gorgeous girls on the Tour

Moscow, Russia, 2015

22 May 2015
In May we flew from Turkey to Moscow to join a 10 day  Explore trip to some of the most famous Russian cities. We were met at the airport by our transfer van driver  and two girls on the tour  who had to wait for over 2 hours for us to finally get through customs as there were some hugs groups of Asian tourists ahead of us.! When we finally left the airport the heavens opened up with torrential rain so it was a tedious drive to our hotel. After settling in we joined other members of the tour to be briefed by our fabulous  tour leader Elena about our busy tour schedule.
Moscow is now one of the largest cities in the world as it has grown rapidly in recent decades. As a result it now consists of high-rise suburbs surrounding a relatively compact historic centre with interesting ancient architecture.
As usual on any tour we visited most of the major sights including Red Square, Lenin's Mausoleum, the famous St Basils, Lenin hills, the Novodevichy Convent and Cemetrey with  it's red and white crenellated walls and golden dome and of course the Moscow Kremlin and Armoury. 

However, the hightlight of our sighting was the incredible Moscow underground metro with it's elaborately decorated chandeliers and mosaics  each station with a different theme.  One could spend an entire day hopping on and off at each station just to be amazed with the  beauty and variety of themes. 

As if our days weren't long enough one evening we attended a spectacular performance by the Moscow Circus Troupe, We chose not to go to the Moscow  Ballet as most of the good seats had been booked out months before and those that were left were selling at incredible prices!   

Moscow was a big surprise to us as we expected " drab, drab, drab" buildings and subdued lifestyle but Moscow is nothing like that. It is a vibrant grand old city with plenty to see and do. We both would love to return there.