Pskov, and a trip to the country

Last Thursday was our trip to Pskov.   We went to a monastery in the hills outside the city first. (bottom picture).  Its still an operating monastery, unlike a lot of the places we've gone to, which are glorified museums, and a large part of the place was blocked off from tourists.  Still, we were able to see a lot, and we did get into the caves.  It was a pretty neat experience.  It was pitch dark in there, and everyone that went in just got a little candle that was dwindling in size at an alarming rate.   We had a  monk to guide us, at least.  It was only 5 degrees C in there, so it was pretty chilly. Apparently it stays that temperature regardless of the time of year.  

Next we went to the oldest (remaining) stone fortress in Russia (not pictures here).  It was nice too, and you could got up into one of the guard towers which has been restored, and look out across the countryside and see really far.  I've got a few photos from up there that I will share with people when I am home.  

Lastly, we went to Pskov itself for a short tour of the Kremlin there.  It was very pretty.  The middle picture above is from inside the main walls of the Kremlin looking up the hill at the church and the inner walls.  It was very beautiful, but I think that I like Novgorod's Kremlin a bit better.  We went into that church, and our timing was perfect, because about 5 minutes after we got there the Archbishop was to arrive, so we got to see all the pomp and circumstance associated with that.   We left shortly after he arrived.

It was a REALLY long trip.  We spent over 8 hours driving in one day.  Also, the roads from Novgorod to Pskov are really quite badly kept up, so the trip was very bumpy.  It was worth doing, but its not something I wish to experience again any time soon.

On saturday I went with my host family to their dacha.  Its about an hour outside Novgorod.  I knew more or less what to expect, but it was still a pretty neat experience, because we really don't have anything like dachas in the USA.  The short version is that its essentially a log cabin out in the country that many families have.  My family also has built a banya (a sauna, more or less), and a very nice fruit and vegetable garden.   We got to literally go out and bring in food for meals.  It doesn't really get any more fresh than that.

On sunday I slept in and my host family greeted me with a small birthday breakfast which consisted of some fruit pies with candles in them :), tea, and black bread.  It was very nice.  After we finished eating, we suited up and went out into the forest to hunt wild blueberries.  We were out there for a couple hours and came back with a big basket of fresh blueberries that we've now brought back to the city with us.    

I'm on to my last full week here now.  I thought it was going to be relatively uneventful, but Liza came to our class today and told us our schedule for the week, and its a bit more full than I had anticipated.  Tomorrow we're going to the convent outside the city, Wednesday is a boat trip down the river and out to the lake and back, and thursday we are touring the archeological sites in the city  ( of which there are many).

Next monday is our last class, Russian only, no history by then, and Tuesday we have a small gathering in the morning and are going out to dinner are a big group in the afternoon.  Next wednesday we are leaving early in the morning and I'll be traveling all day.  Given the busy schedule of this week, I'll probably not post here again until friday, and then possibly early next week.  I'll also be posting some other stuff after the trip is over, with some more pictures, comments, etc, because I will have more time to upload and write, and such.