Moscow River Trip

On the bridge over the Moscow River before we took the Moscow River Boat Ride.

I wanted a picture outside the boat and asked Jim to stand by the captain. The captain quickly took off his hat and put it on Jim and then stood right next to him.

On the Moscow River looking at one of the seven sisters.

We saw this ski jump from the river.

Neskuchnyi (Not-boring) Garden

The oldest landscaped park of Moscow. Notice the cement edge on the side of the river.

Metro Bridge - the metro does not come above ground very often. It just runs around underground not getting caught in traffic!

Russian Academy of Science - crowned with strange orange stuff...

nick-named "Golden Brains"

Headquarters of Russian Land Forces

Gorky Entertainment Park

Gorky Entertainment Park - that monument looks like it came from Southern Utah!

Statue of Peter the First

Statue of Peter the First - Popular legend tells that the monument was initially designed for Columbus and should have been sent to a certain foreign state as a present. However, something went wrong with negotiations and the admiral ended up in Moscow with the head of another great navigator - the first Russian emperior.

Red October Chocolate Factory

Christ the Savior Temple
Khrushchev made a swimming pool in the Cathedral during his time

House on the Embankment - built in 1931 - 505 huge apartments filled with military officers. Probably the first house in Moscow that had running hot water. The house had a laundry, food store, library, kindergarten, post office, bank and even the centralized cooking facility.

The Kremlin

Always a thrill to see St Basil's Cathedral!

the building that houses the music conservatory

large gold-colored treble cleff on top

Jim, Chad, Bethany, John, & Dori
(don't they look cold)

Tolstoy Estate- Yasnaya Polyana

Another beautiful Saturday, another wonderful adventure! This time we are going to visit the estate where Tolstoy was born and buried and lived most of his 82 years. His grandfather bought the land in 1763 and build his manor house. Tolstoy's Prince Bolkonsky in War and Peace is modelled on his grandfather, and the estate itself comes up in many of his works.

A man by the name of Dr. Andrew D. White, was visiting Leo Tolstoy. Tolstoy asked him, "I wish you would tell me about your American religion." Dr. White explained that there were a number of religions in America. Count Tolstoy said, "I want to know about the American religion...The Church to which I refer...is commonly known as the Mormon Church." Dr. White said, "I know very little concerning them." Count Tolstoy said, "Dr. White, I am greatly surprised...[They] teach the people not only of Heaven and its attendant glories, but how to live so that their social and economic relations with each other are placed on a sound basis...If Mormonism is able to endure, unmodified, until it reaches the third and fourth generations, it is destined to become the greatest power the world has every known" (A marvelous work and a Wonder, rev. ed. [1966], 435-35).

The bus we rode from Moscow to Yasnaya Polyana.

The marshrutka let us off at the top of this path that leads to Yasnaya Polyana. We walked down the trail and through the trees and field and found the wonderful world of Tolstoy.

Looking at the pond and up to the estate where Tolstoy lived. This is one of the three ponds on his estate.

Me, Aliene, and Marina. It was a great day!

The avenue of birch trees that go up the hill towards the main house. Tolstoy was particularly fond of the avenue and wrote to his wife about the "play of light and shade" and abundance of wild flowers, all "just as it was sixty years ago when I noticed its beauty for the first time and fell in love with it".

Scott, Jim, Marins, Aliene and Don

More birch trees. We were told that autum is the best time to visit. It was great!

The apple orchard through the birch trees. There are two horses in the orchard but they are very hard to see.

This is the stable where we saw horses, cats and geese wandering around.

Volkonsky House

More buildings on the grounds.

Tolstoy's house front view. Marina, Scott, guide, Aliene and Don. To the left is a temporary tent where we put on cloth shoe coverings. To the right is the veranda that is usually covered with vines but the veranda is being worked on.

Leo Tolstoy spent 50 years of his life in this house. The Tolstoys moved here after marrying. When the family was too big for the original building, it was enlarged by adding a closed-down tavern taken from the main road. Tolstoy moved into it (the tavern addition) to work on his War and Peace manuscript. Objects in the house are genuine. There are portraits, books and clothes displayed exactly the way Tolstoy had them. There are photos of the rooms with Tolstoy in them that show that the rooms are still in their original condition. In his library there is a copy of the Book of Mormon. WE SAW IT!

Walking to Tolstoy's grave.

Don, Jim, Marina, and Scott

Tolstoy's simple, unmarked grave

Nikolai, Tolstoys brother, invented the family myth of a "green stick" on which was written the secret of human happiness. The young Leo searched endlessly for the stick in the ravine where his brother had said it was buried. Tolstoy wrote in his diary, "all my best memories are conected with him" (Nikolai). Tolstoy asked to be buried there without any ritual.

Small fence around the grave made out of twigs from the Hazel nut tree.

We saw this fun tree while wandering on the grounds.

Beautiful landscape on the property. This picture was taken from behind Tolstoy's favorite bench.

Replica of Tolstoy's favorite bench made of slender sliver birch branches.

Geese and cats wander by the stables with the horses.

Having a break to eat corn chips and fruit!

Jim, Don, Aliene, Marina, Scott (I'm taking the picture)

This is a fun blossom/flower that was on a tree. Marina said when she was young she and her friends would pick the flowers and glue or tape them to their ears and pretend they were wearing earrings...darling idea!

A beautiful pond that has a bath house built on it.

This is the bath house. The first room with the door is where you would change. There is another room further back that does not have a floor. That is where you would get in the pond to take a bath. Clever!

Fun bridge made out of birch trees. There must be water under the bridge in the spring.

Parking lot where people are selling produce and freshly picked mushrooms from the forrest.

Tolstoy on his favorite bench.

Tolstoy by the pond on is estate.

A picture of Tolstoy in his house. This is one of the pictures used to keep the house looking original. This is the room where Tolstoy wrote Anna Karenina.

Tolstoy in the birch trees.