Ploshchad’ Pervogo Maya

Our first overnight train was an easy one - Moscow to Kazan, leaving at 11 PM and arriving just under 12 hours later. It was comfortable and we enjoyed the included breakfast - a hard, dark bun of some kind that even after tasting we weren’t sure if it was chocolate or dark bread, some juice and an entire family-sized block of dark chocolate each.

We chose Kazan because as the capital of Tatarstan it has a lot of Islamic influence and we thought if we were going to look at a whole lot more churches on the trip we might as well look at some mosques as well.

We went to the Kazan Kremlin, built on top of the highest point around and with high walls all around its 1.8 kilometre perimeter. It contained an interesting mix of museums (not that we visited any of them), the magnificent Kul Sharif Mosque and the Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation.

Next to the cathedral was the Soyembika Tower - 58 metres tall and looking rather Pisa-ish with a pronounced lean.

One museum we did visit was the quirky Soviet Lifestyle Museum. Its small collection contained patriotic toys and clothing and some appliances as well as a lot of pop memorabilia. There was a constant stream of fascinating pop clips playing - wooden performers, wooden audience looking scared to stop smiling and Eurovision circa 1960’s music.

The lively and exciting Bauman Street runs from the Kremlin down to the scenic Kaban Lake and is full of bars and restaurants, buskers and other street performers. Think lots of people dressed up as horses and the like in a style best called early Hanna Barbera.

We took a taxi out to the Temple of All Religions, an architectural mashup incorporating elements from all the major religions of the world - including, inside the building, retail. Conceived by a local artist of some repute, its construction is ongoing and it is an appropriate addition to a place where Moslems and Orthodox Christians live quite happily side by side.

We caught bus number 45 for our return to the city, which was a pity as we should have caught bus number 2. Bus 45 began well, heading directly back to town but turned off and set out for the outer suburbs before we knew what was going on.

Luckily, with the help of an old lady out to do her shopping, the young, friendly conductor (one lady even paid him her fare in apples) figured out enough of our gibberish to show us a stop near a metro station that would take us back to the city. To think that we may well have been the first Australians ever to catch the 45 bus!

We finished off our very enjoyable two days with a walk around the Volga River foreshore, enjoying the views of the attractive Palace of Agriculture, before boarding the rather spartan train 378 for Yekaterinburg.Read more