Trains, dragons and Islam in Kazhan

A workmate had asked me to take photos of trains, as he likes to paint pictures of them; due to my slackness this is the only train photo I took, while we waited to catch the train from Moscow to Kazhan.
Kazhan, although capital of the Tartarstan region, seemed to have the vibe of a fairly typical small town.
Orthodox Church on the left and bell-tower on the right. Chocolate box church, which was suitably impressive inside,

with chocolate box bell-tower.
Kazhan has its own Kremlin, which is guarded by a dragon.
The Kremlin contains various government buildings, another Orthodox Church and as it's the Islamic capital of Russia, a Mosque.
Pimp my ride; I'm trading in the Beemer when I get back to Blighty and getting one of these bad boys.

Petrodvorets, Pushkin

Everyone one needs a little bolt-hole, especially the Tsars, to get away from the trials of life and spend the summer holidays.
I got a bus out to the Catherine Palace with Nick and Matt, the 2 English guys I'd been hanging out with from the Hostel. The fountains are supposedly naturally fed, without using motorised pumps to create the water pressure.Scenic view down to the gulf of Finland. Inside the Catherine Palace the interior designer had gone for the ostentatious look. Away with the fairies, or should that be angels? There was a lot of gold around, but I think they'd been watching Changing Rooms as there was more gold paint than gold leaf.
Probably one of the best ledge and step skate spots I've ever seen (better than Victory Park) and I didn't even take my rucksack off. There was a huge square with big hubbas and steps everywhere; I would have gone nuts back in the day but now I just crave some transition.

Hermitage and the Horsemen

In Palace square they were preparing for a Rolling Stones concert next to Alexander Column.
This is the Ornate Jordan Staircase at the Hermitage (It doesn't look very Middle Eastern or have any Chicago Bulls logos so I've no idea what Jordan they're talking about). The Hermitage houses untold collections of art, including modern, but 3 hours is my absolute limit for art appreciation in one sitting.
The entrance to Palace square.
I wanted to go to Decembrist Square solely because a indie rock band had named themselves after it (The square is where on the 14th December 1825 Tsarist soldiers fired on 3000 revolting troops and spectators who wanted to turn Russia into a Republic). The square also has the cities most famous statue of Peter the Great (The Bronze Horseman).

Next to Decembrist Square is Saint Isaac's Church and square
where there is another horseman statue, this time of Nicholas the 1st.
St Petersburg is built on Marsh land and canals cross the city in all directions. I took my third and last boat trip of the holiday on an overcast afternoon in St Petersburg.

St Pete

I was stopped by security before boarding the plane in Moscow on my way to St. Pete. I'd entered Russia from the Ukraine but hadn't bothered reregistering, so my immigration form showed a later date than my original registration. The immigration guy talked loudly at me in Russian whilst pointing at the dates on the forms; I shrugged, said "English" and he let me through, although I wasn't sure if it was because I'd only been back in the country for 2 days and I'd have more trouble later as you're supposed to register within 3 days. After finding the hostel I thought I'd have a look around so I started at Peter and Paul fortress.

It was evening by now so the museum and attractions were closed but I went through Peter's gate and had a look around.Shrunken head guy, possibly from the film Beatlejuice.After my short bit of sightseeing I headed back to the hostel and on the way I spotted a pub that seemed pretty quiet from the outside. I walked up to the bar, sat down and happened to sit next to two English guys who turned out to be staying in the same room as me at the hostel. After a few drinks things started getting stranger; the pub virtually turned into a disco and we ended the night being press-ganged into a conga. The night started at 9 and finished between 2 and 3 am, setting the routine for my 3 nights in St Pete.

Over the Rainbow

They were setting up for more celebrations in honour of hosting the games in the park overlooking the city and used the communist arch and statues as a backdrop.

I need to work on a new pose for photographs as the hands by the side thing is getting a little old; unfortunately throwing gang signs, thumbs up or shakkas isn't really going to cut it either. The big guys behind me look less than impressed.
Communist propaganda? There was a nice view down to the river and the docks. The river was quite industrial even in the centre of the city; the old part of the city was seperated from it by a steep incline, which you traversed using a train type thing (my minds erased the proper name for it).
If a city has a river there's a new rule that you have to take a boat trip.This is the monastery complex we'd visited the previous day.When I found out the local nickname for this statue was the steel wench I became mildly obsessed and kept trying to find her, although this is the best view I ended up getting.

National dress and National Pride

Maybe this is the Ukrainian equivalent of Morris Dancers; I can't remember what it sounded like so it can't have made that big of an impression. Public sculptures abound, which makes for plenty of random photo opportunities.
I really dug this part of town and we had food and drinks sitting outside a cafe on the left. There is something about summer evenings and the mellow ambiance of the place.I thought some of the buildings looked almost Austrian but maybe someone better travelled than me has a closer match.Walking back into town in the evening we came across an event celebrating the Ukraine hosting some sort of European games; the Ukraine wants to be in the EU so bad and I didn't need a visa unlike Russia.The traditional dancers were nuts, in a good way and I watched them warm up which consisted of them doing head high kicks and then squatting so their butts almost hit the floor. To me it looked like Cossack dancing but I'm sure they'd be mortally offended by the comparison.

Heros and Saints of the Ukraine

I'm sure this guy is important as he had pride of place in the biggest square in town but I'm having trouble reading what's written on the stone, although according to the guide book it has something to do with beating the Polish. Instead of entering the next cathedral we climbed the bell tower to get a good view out over the city.
Looking out towards Saint Michael's Cathedral and the river.
St Sophia's Cathedral and the residential part of the city.

We walked down to St Michael's Cathedral where they were setting up for some sort of celebration, hence the flags.
Saint Andrew's Cathedral was just round the corner heading into the chilled part of the city with cobbled streets and stalls. I stopped at one stall selling badges and bought the one memento of my East European jaunt, a pin badge of Lenin with the motto always ready, although for what I'm not sure.
I'm starting to feel out of place. Enough of the saints, where the sinners at?