Transition time

Another quick post, just to show a few airport photos. 

I started my day in Bloomington, Indiana, USA, and ended in Vienna, Austria. In between those destinations were a car ride, two taxi rides, and five flights! 

I drove with family members from Bloomington to Indianapolis, then boarded my first flight in that airport. It went smoothly, and was on time. 

My next flight was from Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA to Amsterdam. It turned out to be the first ever flight by KLM from Minneapolis to Amsterdam, yahoo! To celebrate, they had cupcakes and cookies and drinks and balloons set out at the gate. Since the flight was midweek, it wasn't very full, I got four seats in a row to myself. I tried to sleep, but it only sortof worked. Time zones and all that. 

In Schipol airport, Amsterdam, I got to watch a beautiful sunrise. The sun was huge and red when it first came up. Absolutely gorgeous. 

While watching, I noticed a big clock hanging from the ceiling. I saw a man inside, and thought he was cleaning the clock. Then I realized it was a video projection, changing the hands of the clock every minute. Very cool. 

While in this airport I also bought a guidebook, one I will need next school year. At least, that's the plan as of right now. 

My flight from Amsterdam to Kyiv departed and arrived on time. I rushed through passport control and customs, and hopped into the taxi I'd arranged ahead of time.The taxi took me back to my flat, then waited while I changed, grabbed a different pack, and packed different clothes. Then the taxi drove me back to the airport. 

I checked in with the little machine and printed out my boarding passes. Going through security was easy, though annoying. I never know if I need to take off my shoes (or not,) my watch (or not,) take out my toiletries (or not,) or be patted down. 

Since I was flying Lufthansa I got a snack on the flight, and drinks. Much appreciated, especially the drinks. (I've learned the hard way that I need to stay hydrated during long days of travel.)

Arrival in Munich was easy, because the signage in that airport is easy to follow. 

This is where I don't know what happened. I know I didn't check the timing for my next flight carefully enough, I didn't have a specific idea of how long I had to get to my next gate. 

Since this was my entry point to the Schengen Zone, this is where I got my passport stamp even though it wasn't my final destination. I took the train to the terminal I needed, and moseyed along.

Apparently I moseyed too long, because when I got to the gate, no one was there. No one. That was scary. I looked at the nearest clock and realized it said the exact time my plane was supposed to be departing. I was supposed to be on that plane! Ooops! 

I really don't know why I missed that flight, but realizing I had done so was an awful feeling. 

I found the nearest help desk, which was only two gates away. When the lady asked me why I had missed the flight I had to answer that I didn't know. I asked what will happen now, and she did her dance with the computer. I was beyond relieved when she said she had rebooked me on the next flight, leaving in thirty minutes. I was hugely grateful, to say the least. 

I raced across the airport, back to the first terminal, and boarded my new flight. I was the last to board, but I made it in time, which was all that mattered. 

Arrival in Vienna was easy. Since I had carryon baggage, and was already in the Schengen Zone, I basically walked straight through the airport and out the other side. 

I took the advice of my hotel, and took the CAT (city airport train) into the city. It cost me 12€, but the ride was just 16 minutes, and was a heap more convenient than my other options. 

In the city center I got off the CAT, and found a nearby metro line. Five stops later, I got off that too, and started walking. 

Ten minutes later I was at my hotel. I rang the doorbell, as I was checking in after their regular hours. The man let me in, gave me the quick tour, and I settled in. My body didn't really know what time it was, jet lag was not my friend during this trip. I probably should've gone out for a proper meal, but I didn't. 

To make a long story short, a car ride, five flights, two taxi rides, a train and a metro, and some walking took me from home to another destination. 

Vienna, I'm ready to explore! 

the states: indiana: a family gathering in bloomington

Unfortunately, this trip was due to a death in the family. Since my family wanted to have as many of us at the memorial as possible, it was scheduled several months later. 

I started with a loooong day of traveling. Three flights to get to Bloomington, Indiana; from Kyiv to Amsterdam, then to Detroit, then to Indianapolis. The last flight was slightly delayed, but not nearly as much as it might've been. 

My uncle (whom I hadn't seen since fall 2012,) met me at the airport, and we picked up his rental car. From there we drove to Bloomington, only having to turn around twice. Whoops! Even though the airport in Indianapolis is probably 10 years old, I've only gone from it to Bloomington one other time. Most of the time I fly into Chicago. 

Anywho, we arrived at home safe and sound, then immediately turned around and went out to dinner. I love steak, I was happy :) 

By the time we got home from dinner my body was completely confused as to what time it was, but I stayed awake chatting until after midnight. Ooops. That didn't help with jet lag. 

I was wide awake the next morning at 0630, argh. It wasn't light outside and no one else was awake. I putzed around and found cereal for breakfast, cheerios for the win!!

Eventually everyone else was awake, and dad went to pick up a couple more arrivals. They came back to Bloomington, and we all said our hellos. I hadn't seen one cousin since January 2014, and an aunt since fall 2000. Clearly my family is not so good about getting together regularly. 

Dad had something else to do, so I took an uncle, an aunt, and a cousin to see one of the more unique sights in Bloomington. (One the way we stopped at a bookstore so I could buy a guidebook.)

Most people don't know that the brother of the Dalai Lama lived in Bloomington for many years, until he died in ........ During his years in the city he taught at Indiana university (I will usually refer to it as IU) and established the Tibetan Mongolian Buddhist Cultural Center. 

This temple and complex is in southeastern Bloomington, and you feel as though you're in a totally different place. We walked around the prayer wheels and looked at the sand mandala inside one of the stupas. We looked inside the temple, noticing the religious books of several other faiths. It's a very calming place to spend time. 

From there they dropped me off at my sister's house, where I got to meet my nephew for the first time. Since he was just short of four months old, of course he won't remember me the next time I get to see him. It was nice to spend a couple hours with my sister and catch up with her. I held my new nephew a few times, but he always started crying within a minute, argh. 

I went back to Dad's house for dinner, pizza was ordered. That's the biggest family dinner any of us remember for quite a while. 

After dinner I went with Dad and my uncle to round 3 of the women's national invitational tournament, usually called the WNIT. Dad had scored courtside seats for us, which was awesome. I've never been that close to the action, it was a whole new perspective. IU won, which made it even better. 

When I got home I watched the last few minutes of a men's NCAA game, the University of Oregon beat the University of Michigan. My family is sports obsessed, yay!

I tried to stay up for another basketball game, but didn't succeed. 

Even though I fell asleep at a decent time, I still woke up super early, thanks jet lag. 

Since I was up so early I was able to convince Dad to let me use his car to go to Needmore Coffee Roasters. I've known the owner for a long time, I was thrilled to support a local business. She has been roasting coffee wholesale for several years, having a coffee shop was quite new. All of her coffee beans are ethically sourced from fair trade farms in Central America. I'm not a coffee drinker, but all of her other products for sale in the shop are locally sourced. 

She has found a great chai for use in a chai latte, which made me happy. I want to have more the next time I visit.

I picked up coffee to go for a couple cousins as well. 

Not long after I got home, two cousins showed up, along with my sister and nephew. We had arranged to do a day long road trip, yay. At some point when I'd been looking at a map of the state I noticed there were a number of towns with names of countries. I thought it would be fun to visit a couple of them. 

My sister drove, and since she knew where she was going, we weren't worried about getting lost on the back roads. 

Our first stop was Cataract Falls State Recreation Area. From the name I suppose this makes it a step down from a state park, but I don't know what the difference actually is. Right near the first parkplatz is a red covered bridge, you can't help but see it. 

As we started to walk through the bridge we saw it was filled with picnic tables, I assume they are put out during summer. We took group photos, thank goodness for time delay options on cameras :) 

On the other side of the bridge was a small path down to the water. Not a big path, I got the impression there aren't heaps of people who visit this area. Or maybe we were just early visitors in the season. 

We got down to the water, each of us taking our own photos. My cousins and I travel semi regularly, and I love their photos. When I saw photos of this trip later on I was surprised by the differences, despite all of us being in the same place. Awesome.

The rec area has two sets of falls, upper and lower. The falls by the covered bridge are the upper falls, and according to the sign they are some of the biggest in the state. I had to climb down in a couple places, of course I ended up with bruises from falling against the rocks. 

We viewed the upper falls from the viewing 'platform' on the parkplatz side of everything as well. It's a nice view. We could see the area is capable of having much more water, I wonder what the falls look like after a big rain. 

We walked along the road to lower falls instead of driving. Another thing my family has in common is a love of walking. On both sides of the road were woods, I figured there must be hiking trails in the area. 

The lower falls weren't as impressive as the upper falls, but I'm still glad we saw them. I saw a couple people with big cameras setting up for shots, so maybe they saw something I didn't? 

We drove to Poland, IN and went to a local diner for lunch. I'm a huge fan of diners, and the characters you see in them; I was thrilled when I'd found this place listed on a travel app. 

The food was okay, not wonderful not awful, the pie wasn't nearly as good as I wanted. We all snickered to ourselves when we saw a man stand up wear leather motorcycle pants with suspenders. We overheard part of the conversation from a table on the other side of the room, they were talking about Trump. Given that this was small town Indiana, they were probably supporters. 

There isn't much to the town of Poland, IN, it's really small. The church was quite picturesque though. 

We next drove to our last stop: Brazil, IN. The seat of the county, and the birthplace of legendary union leader Jimmy Hoffa. While we were there we looked for him (or his body, as neither has been seen in a looong time,) but they were nowhere to be found. 

Brazil isn't terribly exciting, with very little listed on travel apps. I liked the look of the county courthouse, which is quite grand. On the side of another building I saw a giant mural, but we didn't stop to see it.

We drove to a coffee shop, I learned what a French ice drink is. I liked my snicker doodle cookie best of all. 

After the coffee shop I convinced everyone else to stop for a few minutes in front of the courthouse. On one side of the front lawn was a plane, my guess is it was from WW2, the tail said FU-434. There was also a memorial to soldiers from a different era. 

After this stop we drove back to Bloomington, my sister knew exactly where to go. Yay. 

That night everyone had dinner at Dad's house, (two more family members had arrived,) then we watched another basketball game. As I said earlier, my family is sports obsessed. 

The next morning was Saturday. Some folks went to the church to deal with technical issues, I went with the cousins to see a little of IU's campus. It's a gorgeous campus, consistently named as one of the most beautiful in the country. 

The technical issues folks joined us fairly quickly, Dad and I showed them around a small part of the campus, and told a bit of the history. In addition to loving sports, we all enjoy history as well. 

That afternoon everyone gathered at the church for Grandma's memorial service. It was emotional, to say the least. Afterward we had a small reception, Dad and my uncle had put together photos of Grandma's life. I'd never seen many of them so it was fun to watch. 

Toward the end of the reception we got someone to take photos of the entire group, which was awesome. For my family it's incredibly rare for a gathering like this to happen. 

Afterward everyone went out to dinner together. Again, a nice gathering, with time to chat with each other. 

I went back to Dad's house and packed up my stuff, then hopped in Mom's car and went with her to her flat.

On the way we stopped at a supermarket to pick up food for me, as I was determined to enjoy some foods I don't get to have very often. 

The next morning the whole group went to church. For once, my family sat at the very front of the sanctuary, something else we rarely do. During the service my sister baptized her son, I was so proud. (My sister is an ordained minister, she has baptized several children.) I was happy to see her present her son to the congregation. 

After the service we all went to lunch at a local restaurant. It was my first time there but everyone else seemed to know it, or had at least been there once before. Yum. 

After eating I drove Mom back to her flat. She let me borrow her car to do some shopping around town, then I went over to my sister's house again. Since we don't get much sister time I wanted to take advantage while I could. 

When I got back to Mom's flat I showed her my new 'toys' and we chatted for a while. I wish she still lived in Prague. 

The next morning was the end of the trip. As usual I woke up early, so I took time to start packing. I'd come to the states with empty space in my pack, knowing I was going to shop. 

I drove (in Mom's car,) to Dad's house where we picked up one of my aunts, then we drove to Indianapolis International Airport. 

It was hard to say goodbye, and the trip was too short, but I'm glad it happened. 

ukraine: lviv never gets old...and a day trip to rava ruska

I will never get tired of spending time in Lviv. I think this was my 9^th or 10^th visit, and I loved it, as I always do. I booked a place to stay and quickly found out that the owner (it was a private flat,) didn't speak any English. Thankfully, the front office manager at school was able to help me out with arranging a check in time. At least, that's what I thought. The man called me back Friday evening before I got on the train, and through a difficult (almost impossible) conversation (with my limited Ukrainian) I was able to change the check in time to one that suited me better. Note: if you know the person with whom you're speaking doesn't speak your language, use simpler words and speak more slowly.

For the first time, I was on one of the newer night trains, and it wasn't immediately obvious how everything worked. The other people in my area didn't know either, much to the amusement of us all.

As usual, I arrived in Lviv before dawn, and wandered around the city as I usually do. I got to the location of my accomodation just as we'd arranged. I got to check in at 0800, which was awesome.

Even more awesome was the flat itself. It was a studio flat, but it was big. There was enough room for a big bed, and a sofa/tv area. I didn't watch the tv at all, but I loved the area in terms of being able to have something separate from the sleeping area.

After settling in, I looked at my watch and realized I needed to get back to the train station really fast if I was going to make my train. I alternated between running and speed walking the entire way, arriving at the front of the train station 3 minutes before my train was supposed to leave. Since Ukrainian trains generally leave on time, I kept going. I ran through the station and out to the track I needed. Thank goodness I was able to buy the ticket on the train, otherwise I would've been out of luck. I'm pretty sure I was the youngest person on the train by a couple decades, at least.

Under three hours later I arrived in Rava Ruska, Ukraine. It's not quite on the border with Poland, but it's only a couple kilometers away. It's not a tourist destination in Ukraine, but most of the places I've visited in the country wouldn't be considered tourist destinations.

The train station in Rava Ruska is totally different from the other train stations I've seen around the country. It is small of course, but seemed much more homey, as opposed to the grand classical look I'm used to seeing.

Another thing I noticed was that it said the name of the town on both sides of the station (track side and outer side,) which isn't normal. I'm used to seeing the town name on the track side and the word Vokzal (train station) on the outer side.

From the train station I could see the gold domes of a church, so I started walking in that direction. Eventually I got there, finding a Greek Catholic church. It was painted dark yellow, and the front door was locked. On the same property was a much smaller church, this one made of wood. It wasn't open either. I got the impression I was looking at the old and new versions of the same church.

As I walked through town I found heaps of old, abandoned looking houses and buildings. I couldn't tell if they were lived in or not. Some of the properties had chickens running around, so I assume those were inhabited. I also saw a number of wells, so not everyone has running water in their home.

The sidewalks in Rava Ruska were lacking in that they weren't complete. I would walk for a little bit on a sidewalk then it would disappear. I'd switch to the other side of the street, then it would disappear after a little while. Weird.

My first sight was something that looked like a war memorial. I'm not sure what specifically it was honouring, but I admired it anywho.

As I was leaving the memorial an older gentleman started to talk to me. As he was speaking Ukrainian and missing a few teeth, I had no idea what he was saying. I kept saying I don't understand, over and over again. I said it in English, Ukrainian, and Russian; he didn't seem to care or didn't understand.

I think at one point he might've been inviting me to his place for coffee, but I turned that down and tried to walk away. He seemed determined to communicate with me, but I wasn't very comfortable with the situation. I'm all for getting to know locals when traveling, but there has to be some sort of language in common, whether spoken or charades; this wasn't the case with this conversation.

At a few points he took a step closer to me, as if that would fix everything. I don't like strangers getting close to me when there is plenty of space available, so I took steps back. He noticed this and laughed about it, which I did not appreciate. Why do men think it is funny when a woman is clearly not comfortable with their behaviour? Argh.

Eventually I just walked away, even though I felt rude.

I followed this street, past another memorial, to a main street in town. On one corner of the intersection was a small chapel, quite pretty.

Further down the main street I found city hall. Its a unique looking building, definitely not what I would've expected in a city hall. City Hall was located next to the fire station, which was really good looking.

Not too far away I found a bakery with a tasty looking eclair. I was right, it was tasty.

I turned around and walked back in the other direction on this main street. At one point I noticed a small local market, so I wandered through there. Nothing special, but still nice to see. All the vendors I could see were older folks.

At another intersection I found another park area with a much bigger war memorial. I'm sure this one was dedicated to WW2, and it had the same Soviet realism I've seen all over the country.

I kept walking down the street and found a church. This one was painted a dark yellowish orange, as was the outer property wall. I found it quite ugly, but I still wanted to see the inside of the church. I walked through the outer gate, and immediately noticed that the bell tower wasn't on the church itself. It was a lot small, and looked more like a mini aqueduct, with three arches and a bell in each arch. It was also painted the horried yellowish orange colour.

I walked into the church, I was the only visitor at the time. A couple ladies inside were cleaning, and only glanced at me. I wasn't a big fan of the interior, though I don't know why. The ceiling was a turquoise kind of colour, and there was a low hanging chandelier. The carpet was patterned red, and the iconostasis was painted wood.

I got back to the street and wound around some smaller streets to a Polish Catholic church. (Since this was western Ukraine, I expected to see Catholic and Orthodox churches.) Unfortunately, not even the front gate of this one was open.

When I started walking on the main street again I could see the top of an abandoned monastery. I love abandoned places, and after not getting to see the abandoned monastery in Sokal I hoped to change that this time around.

I ended up walking almost all the way around the monastery to find the entry. It turned out there was a motel on one side of the property, which seemed a little strange to me. I found an open gate and walked through. From there I circled around the church, which has definitely had better days. There was rubbish all over the property, as well as what seemed to be building materials. From the outside appearance I couldn't tell if renovation work was being done.

The front of the church didn't appear to be open, but there was an open door to the building next door. Of course I went inside.

This building must've been the cloister and living area for the monastery when it was active. I walked down the halls and up the stairs and down more halls. I peeked into small rooms off the halls, but there was nothing except abandonment.

Falling down and peeling paint. Not a speck of furniture anywhere. I found the remains of one fresco painting on a wall, that was it.

In the hall next to the church I was able to peek into the church, but the door that allowed me to do so wouldn't open far enough to let me in the sanctuary. Argh.

In one of the upper hallways I found a window of sorts that I was able to climb through and get to the balcony of the church. Awesome. I loved it.

When I got back out to the yard in front of the church I noticed there was no lock on the church door, it was just one of those sliding doohickeys.

Since it hadn't been moved in a while I had to rock it back and forth, but it did open. Then I was on the ground floor of the sanctuary, yay!

This church clearly hasn't been used or taken care of in quite a while. I could see the remains of frescoes all over the walls and ceilings. There was a bookcase of sorts at the front, behind where the iconostasis would've been I couldn't identify anything else in the room.

Eventually I went outside again, and walked back toward the city center. As I walked, I looked at the city on google maps and noticed a mass grave marked, of course I made my way in that direction. I made my way up the street and first stopped at a cemetery.

It was a typical cemetery with a variety of styles in grave markers. In one corner was a Soviet memorial of some kind, I don't know what it was for specifically. Soldiers, maybe? Next to this memorial is what used to be a stone chapel.

When I got to the mass grave sight I immediately saw the sign describing the sight. The sign was in three languages, Hebrew, English, and Ukrainian. It said that the grave held the remains of 3000 or so people who had been massacred in the area during the war. The sign also said that over 10,000 people had been deported from the area during WW2, not many had returned afterward. (Sadly, this is typical of much of Eastern Europe.) During the war over 1 million Jews were murdered in what is now Ukraine.

From there I started walking back toward the train station. Along the way I went through a park and saw another statue. I think this one was of Shevchenko, the Ukrainian poet. For a reason I don't know, there were also statues of bears in this park. Weird.

The train back to Lviv departed on time, and three hours later it arrived. I was cold and uncomfortable the whole time, there were no heaters on this train. Argh.

After returning to Lviv I walked across the city to dinner. Along the way I picked up goods from a bakery I hadn't visited before, and ate some before getting to dinner. They were good, and I really ought to stop eating dessert before dinner. Ooops.

I slept well in my flat that night.

The next morning I woke up and actually got moving earlier than normal. I'd arranged for checking out at noon, but I wanted to go for a walk before then. When I got outside I realized it was colder than I'd expected, and it was really windy. Really really windy. The clouds above the city were rolling by quickly.

I walked to the square around City Hall, enjoying the lack of people. I saw a couple lions (one of the symbols of the city,) in one area, each had been covered with locks. I suppose this is the local version of locks of love.

Even though I've done it before, I decided to climb up the tower of City Hall again. The entry fee is only 20 griven, so less than $1. You get to climb plenty of stairs to get up there, it's a workout. As soon as I walked out the door my hair felt like it would be ripped off my head it was so windy. From the top there are great views over the entire city. Beautiful.

I came back down all the stairs, and walked toward my next destination. picking up breakfast along the way. Two filled croissants, yum. I ate them as I walked, I'm never very good at holding onto food.

My next sight was another place I've seen before. This was the National Museum and Memorial to the Victims of Occupational Regimes Prison at Lonsky.

It was originally a prison, and was used as a prison by several different governmental organizations of the Polish, Nazis, and Soviets. It was last used by the NKVD as a prison and torture facility. When they left in the early 90s the building was left as is. Nothing has been changed since, except to arrange specific exhibits.

It's an intense place to visit, especially knowing the history of what happened. Out in the yard is where mass executions took place on six days of June in 1941.

Along the main wall is a temporary exhibition of sorts. There are photos of several Ukrainian Orthodox churches in Canada, originally built when Ukrainians fled the country.

Many of those churches have since been abandoned, but they're still photogenic.

I wandered through and took in the information, then left. While I was wandering I avoided the tour group of Ukrainian soldiers.

After the museum I tried my luck at entering a couple churches in the city. Lviv has so many, and it seems like they're all quite beautiful. Not surprisingly, many of them are full of people in services on Sunday morning.

I went back to the flat and checked out. That meant I had to carry my backpack with me for the rest of the day. Not fun, but not too bad. I can't wait till summer when clothes take less space.

My next stop was a museum I'd never seen before. It was a branch of the Lviv Historical Museum, also on the old town square. The specific displays were all about Ukrainian culture and history in this specific area.

This particular branch of the museum was on several levels of the building, with three or four rooms on each level. I went through all the rooms, I really liked the money display. It seems I have a knack for noticing docents while they're at their best, I saw one dozing off.

After leaving the museum I went back to churches, they're such an important part of the city. Even though I'm not a fan of worshipping in churches with complicated decorations, I do appreciate the art and thought put into the decoration.

After several churches I went to another branch of the Lviv Historical Museum. This one was on the other side of the old city square. This one had a photo fee, which I generally hate but paid anywho. Why aren't these extra fees just put in the ticket price? It's not as if anything is that expensive.

I really liked this museum, as it had a few rooms arranged as they might've been during the lives of various people. They were fancy rooms, of course. Beautiful. I also liked seeing the fancy jewelry that used to be owned by rich folks.

When I was back out on the streets and walking along the area in front of the opera house I noticed one street had been blocked off to cars.

It was jam packed with people, all of whom were processing along. I figured out it was a religious procession, but that's all I could figure out. There was no holiday, so I really don't know what it was. There were a LOT of people crammed into the area that was blocked off.

I changed my route and continued walking to a place I'd never seen before. A large park on one edge of the city. I've seen it on maps before, but never remembered to come out and explore it. It's called Stryski (sp?) park and is mostly woods and trails. I loved walking through, even though there wasn't much green to be seen. In one area of the park I saw a couple university buildings, but I didn't know what they were for specifically.

I also saw a couple empty fountains and abandoned buildings.

I finally saw the giant WW2 memorial I'm used to seeing in every Ukrainian city and town. How had I not seen this before? It was as big as I expected.

Back in the city I went to the same restaurant as the night before (remember what I've said before about eating the same food again if I like it) and enjoyed my meal. I killed time there for a while, then went back to the train station and caught my train back to Kyiv.

Another successful weekend in a city I love.

russia: klin

If you start to talk about famous Russian composers, I'm guessing most people outside Russia will have a hard time coming up with a name straightaway. Howeva, there is at least one name people would recognize as soon as you say it: Tchaikovsky. He was born in a small town in 1840 and died in St Petersburg in 1893, and was originally slotted to be a civil servant; both his father and grandfather had been part of the army. Some of Tchaikovsky's most well known pieces include the Nutcracker, Romeo and Juliet, Swan Lake, and Sleeping Beauty. 

It turns out the man spent a lot of time at a family house in Klin, which isn't far from Moscow. Klin is just over 50 miles from Moscow, and has been known as a town since the early 14^th century. It has been Russian for all of its existence except for a period of about three weeks in 1941, when the German army came in and took over.

Claire and I met up on a metro station platform, then found the correct suburban train station. We bought tickets and hopped on the next train bound in the right direction. We felt like the tickets were rather expensive, at 220 rubles, but maybe we've just gotten spoiled with some of the cheaper places we've been. 

In the end it would've been a better deal to pay for the faster, express train. Oh well.

As soon as we got off the train in Klin we saw a bust of Tchaikovsky, so we thought the day was off to a great start. We were traveling in mid March, which can mean just about anything in terms of weather in Russia. There was still plenty of snow and slush on the ground, not so fun to walk in that.

Our first stop ended up being a WW2 memorial along the main road in town. There were a lot of fake flowers, an eternal flame, a statue, and the dates of the war, all very typical.

From there we walked through a park, which was pretty because everything was frozen. There is something about a frozen park with a partly frozen stream, in quiet sunlight that always catches my eye.

Our main reason for coming to town was to see the Tchaikovsky family house, kindof on the edge of town. We ended up walking through snow drifts along the road, as there was no clear sidewalk for some reason.

Google maps took us to an entry to the property that was gated and locked. Thankfully there was a sign posted showing where an open gate could be found. 

We walked back around to the correct entrance and walked in the first building we saw.

In this building we had to pay a rather extortionate entry fee of 550 rubles, and since I wanted photos, I had to pay another 200 rubles. Argh. Talk about a ridiculous price. This wasn't the house we'd come to see, we had to exit through a side entrance, then follow a path through a garden area to get to the house.

When we got to the house we had to check our coats, then put on boot covers.

We walked through the house, which was arranged as it used to be, or at least that's my understanding. 

I don't know what was authentic (actually originally in the house,) and what had been added because it would've been common at the time.

We were totally disappointed that we weren't allowed to go in many of the rooms. Nearly all of them were roped off, so we could only look in from the doorway. In other words we paid a rather large entry fee to walk down a hallway.

There was a smaller building to see as well, I think it was something like a conservatory? I don't remember, and I never bothered to look it up later. It was much smaller, and only had a couple rooms plus a front porch.

After seeing as much as we could in those two houses we walked back to the main building. On the second floor there was an exhibition of items and information related to Tchaikovsky. Despite being the only two visitors at the time, in rooms that weren't at all cramped, we still had to take off our coats and check them.

When we left the property we left with a bad feeling, as if we'd missed something, or somehow been fleeced out of money. The house and grounds should be sooooo much better for visitors than they are.

We walked along the main road to the other side of town, stopping at a grocery store for snacks along the way.

Our second reason for coming to Klin was to see a Christmas ornament museum. The entrance ended up being on the backside of a building, we ended up circling the entire building before we found it.

As we entered, the people standing there looked at us like aliens. We tried to ask if we could buy tickets, and they said no. There was a price list and a ticket office, so we were rather confused. It turned out we could buy a ticket, but we had to join a tour.

We explained that we don't speak Russian, and don't understand much, but they insisted. So we dutifully followed our guide who prattled on as if we understood anything she said.

After about seven minutes of not having a clue, we simply ignored her, and went about taking photos on our own. She didn't seem happy about this, but we didn't understand and she was moving far too slowly for us to appreciate what we didn't understand. We didn't do anything crazy, we just walked to the next exhibit when we finished looking at the current one.

Exhibits were generally arranged by decade/style. We really enjoyed seeing how the styles of ornaments changed through the years. 

There were a few fully decorated trees, each of a certain colour family.

At the very end of the museum was a GIANT christmas tree, and they had a disco light shining snowflakes on the ceiling. Very cute.

We found the Lenin statue as we were walking back toward the train station.

Almost directly across the street was a small sushi shop which looked decent, so dinner was easy to sort out.

After eating we caught the next train back to Moscow. Day trips rock, though I have to say I would not recommend Klin to anyone else. Tchaikovsky was an amazing composer, his home/museum should be so much better than it is.