Seeing the other Russia, the one not engulfed by the Moscow monster.

One of my favorite parts about living in Moscow is when I get to leave Moscow. That may sound odd, but the city really is well positioned to take trips, large and small. Well, Monday and Tuesday my good friend and I took a quick power trip to two cities in the Golden Ring, Vladimir and Suzdal. The two cities (towns really) are famous for their historic cathedrals and their back-country Russian charm.

The planning for the trip (on my part at least) consisted of a 5 minute phone call on Sunday night, and reading the lonelyplanet and wikitravel posts about the two cities. The next morning we were on our way (a bit later than planned because I may have caused us to miss our initial train...oops) We ended up taking the antiquated electric train to Vladimir. As the train slowly dragged its clunky metal frame through the short bursts of tiny towns, the pockets of forest, and the rolling hills we filled the time talking to some absolutely delightful elderly locals of Suzdal who enthralled us with their descriptions and vivid retelling of the history of the small towns. This was the first hint of the cliche small-townities that came up the whole trip - perfect strangers talking, laughing, and sharing stories on a train. 

Vladimir was a great preparation for Suzdal. We spent about half the day slowly meandering around the old part of town that overlooks the Klyazma river.

 We dropped by several cathedrals, I don't remember what this one is.

The Cathedral of the Assumption  was definitely the most impressive for me.

 A statue of Vladimir the Great, Cathedral of the Assumption, and I'm not sure what's going on with me here.

Cathedral of the Assumption, view three

We also visited the Golden Gate, not the one in California.

wait...that's not right either, although it is tantalizing 

Here we go. The Golden Gate is what's left of the old city walls,  with a nice little museum inside.

We had a pleasantly inexpensive lunch (Moscow is so expensive!) and took the short bus-ride to Suzdal. You'll have to wait until I'm less tired to hear about what happened on the other end of that bus-ride.