A train ride to Dmitrov

With another long weekend and the start of half term it seemed criminal not to go out and about again. Peter and I had used the electrishka to get to Irina's for the choir BBQ, but someone had always bought the ticket. It was time to try on our own. Jonathan from church mentioned he had been to Dmitrov, and Phoebe had a walk on the website so we decided to have a go. A break down in communication between Peter and I meant we didn't get off as early as we should so we were a little late arriving at Savalovksy station. It wasn't busy and the lady was very patient with me as I asked for 'dva billieta pashalsta' and waved my arms to indicate I wanted returns. Then we had to find the train, which we did with some help.

These suburban trains are very basic: hard bench seats and no facilities. They stop at every station with people getting on and off all along the route. We were entertained by buskers and bothered by people selling vegetables, pens, post cards: anything that is saleable as well as the inevitable beggars.

You can just about see how basic it is - these two were pretty good.

Very few people got on the train at the station, which is situated on the edge of Moscow city centre. The next few stations inside the MKAD ring road were busier the further out we went, but once we were away from the city the train was pretty full with people getting on and off at every stop, some were in the middle of no where, just a few dacha huddled near the railway line.

Dmitrov is about an hour and a half away to the north. It was founded by by Yuri Dolgoruky seven years after he founded Moscow and is named after his son Dmitry. It still has a basic Kremlin (a fortress) and some churches, but is a small town rather than a bustling city.

Sadly we had just finished our picnic lunch when the skies opened which set the tone for the rest of our trip. I did not get all the photos I intended but it was SSOOOOOOOOOOOO wet.

A standard Soviet era monument.

The Assumption Cathedral is inside the Kremlin embankment

The Cathedral domes peeping over the Kremlin

Statue of a priest

Wall painting

These was this chapel just inside the embankment too.

This is known as the lovers' bridge and has padlocks all over it like Luzhkov's trees in Moscow.

Just outside the Kremlin are these statues of past inhabitants of Dmitrov in a street of wooden houses.

Look carefully at this house. I loved it because you can see its history. The original wooden building is at the front, with a block work extension at the back and then the brick addition. So typical of Russian buildings.

Peter Kropotkin, the anarchist priest, after whom the road is named.

Saints Boris and Gleb outside their monastary

And so our day trip came to an early end. By now we were cold and wet, but I am pleased we made the effort. Now we can try some other places.