Birthday weekend

Oh dear I hadn't realised that it was so long ago that I lost posted. Being here for three years means fewer adventures. However, On my birthday Alla (nursery teacher) Peter Eades ( year 2 teacher), Peter and I set off for Sergiev Posad. Weather was not promising and the dacha traffic hideous.

This is a factory which manufactured parts for the space industry. When the gates are open it is possible to see space craft bits lying around the site.

However, we made it safely and found somewhere to park and dived into McD for lunch while it heaved down. Though it remained gloomy, in fact it was nearly dry for the rest of the day.

Peter and I first stopped at Sergiev Posad on the way to Yaraslavl in May, but there was no time to visit the Monastery there as we had further to travel.

As ever, it is an important religious centre, with a seminary for Orthodox priests on the site. For the full history Google Monastery of the Holy Trinity, Sergiev Posad. It was beautiful.

The bell tower

Trinity Cathedral  

Church of Our Lady of Smolensk

Cathedral of the Assumption

Inside Church of the Assumption

Vestments for sale (yes Peter E and I got told off for taking photos!!)

Sergiev's vision of doves symbolising the followers to come

Paintings of Sergiev;s life in the entrance arch

It was a beautiful place and obviously a very holy place for Orthodox Russians.

While I was there Alla helped me choose a crucifix which I bought with my birthday money from the family. I had intended to buy one before I left Russia and this seemed a good place to buy one, even though I have no intention of leaving Russia just yet!!

We then went to Abramsevo which was an artists community from end of the nineteenth century. I was interested to go because the furniture I saw at the Vasnetsov House Museum in the summer with Alla, was made here. It was a beautiful community with all sorts of  houses, including a wooden manor house and a delightful chapel.

Alla outside the Saviour Church  'Not Made by Hand' - Tserkov Spasa Nerukotvorny

Oratory added later for the remains of Savva Mamontov and his son Andrey.

The house on chicken legs from the story of Baba Yaga

Autumn colour

The lake

A beautiful place that I would like to see again.

A rather damp but memorable birthday. The evening concluded with a meal at our favourite Uzbeki restaurant just down the road.