Even
though I'd basically just come back to Moscow, I started my second
weekend back by taking off for a day trip on Saturday. I'd chosen my
destination because of a photo I'd seen on social media, which has
become a normal way for me to choose a place to go :)
Almost
as soon as I boarded the elektrichka I missed the ladies I traveled
with last year. We spent nearly every weekend together, traveling all
over the country. I hadn't realized how much I'd gotten used to it,
until boarding this train and really realizing they weren't there.
Argh.
Around
2.5 hours later I arrived at a station called Glubokovo. The station
itself was hardly a station, more like just a landing platform. To
get to my sight of the day, I had a two hour walk, through a whole
lot of nothing.
The
walk was actually really pretty, though I kept thinking how much the
ladies would've been teasing me about where we were walking if they'd
been there. Less than half of the 'roads' were sealed, some were just
sand!
That
being said, I got to see some small lakes/ponds, which had beautiful
reflections on a sunny, quiet morning.
Eventually
I got to where I wanted to go: a monastery. The monastery sits on an
island in the middle of a lake, which means the aesthetic appeal of a
photo is pretty awesome. I got to see a beautiful reflection of the
bridge and island on the lake.
Despite
this monastery basically being out in the middle of nowhere (no
public transport, at least not that I could find,) there was still a
fairly steady parade of people crossing the bridge to the island. I
generally love taking photos of me on a bridge, but I skipped that
this time.
Go
figure, the monastery itself wasn't all that great. One church was
open, but only the lower level. It was nice, and fully decorated, but
didn't feel as amazing as many churches because of the low ceiling.
The
biggest church building was closed, and seemed to be under
renovation, darnit. I wonder what it looks like when everything is in
good shape.
After
a two hour walk, I only spent about 30 minutes on the island. It
wasn't big, and there wasn't much to see other than the reflection on
the water. Oh well, at least the weather was good.
From
there I walked to Pokrov, (Vladimir oblast,) the closest town. With
just a little over 17,000 residents, the city was originally granted
town status in 1778. It was originally built as a monastery village,
but that's no longer the main focus of the city. Wikipedia tells me
Pokrov is home to a chocolate factory, I wish I'd been able to take a
tour!!
I
stopped in the first grocery store I saw, the ice cream I bought
tasted amazing. (Probably because I was hot and sweaty and had been
walking for at least 90 minutes since leaving the monastery.) I had
to make sure I didn't drink the water too fast, I needed to absorb
the water, not have it go straight through me.
I
didn't see much of interest in Pokrov, but I did like the chocolate
fairy monument. She is a chocolate bar with arms, legs, a head, and a
hat. Absolutely perfect. If only she handed out real chocolate. Sigh.
Further
down the main street was a small park, Yandex maps told me a Lenin
statue should be there. He wasn't, I was rather disappointed. There
was a platform where I imagine his bust/statue used to be, but there
isn't anything else there anymore. I wonder when he disappeared, and
why.
I
also found a church, but it was just as 'interesting' as the
monastery. Sigh.
From
there I had a loooooong walk back to the train station. I timed it
pretty well, and only had to wait 15 minutes for the next elektrichka
to come along.
I
was quite happy with my day trip, even though I hadn't seen all that
much, and had walked quite a bit. The weather was good, so being
outside was a good thing no matter what.
Welcome
back (to me,) to traveling in Russia.
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