Day 12 -- Countryside and St. Sergiyev's Monastery.
Today's tour took us to the "Real Russia", i.e. outside of the city.
Many Russians have a country home called a dacha.
This man has contracted with Trafalgar to let us visit his dacha and private garden.
It's a lovely traditional home...
...with a large garden area.
Either of our fathers would have been right at home here.
We liked this weird purple flower.
A beautifully-decorated outhouse.
In front, he had this old Soviet military vehicle.
Then on to St. Sergiyev's Monastery.
It's like a small city unto itself with several churches, schools, etc. ...
...but still decorated in lavish Russian Orthodox style.
More reading practice: C is pronounced "S", Y is pronounced "U", B is "V", E is "eh", H is "N",
backwards N is "EE", P is "R", and the "bl" means to soften the one before it. Sound it out.
Making our way into the main entrance.
Frescoes tell the story of St. Sergei; he's the guy with the halo.
They differentiate between priests and monks. Priests can marry, but must do so early in their career.
The main cathedral, and the "well" of holy water in the lower left.
Another cathedral on the square.
An administration building.
First Cathedral of the Assumption of the Well.
The building in front is its own tiny church.
It was very much like our visit to Salt Lake City, in that they assigned us a young female voluteer
escort; they just didn't call her a missionary.
We got a pleasant unexpected surprise, when large numbers of bishops and "pups" started coming down this
staircase.
It turns out the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church (think "Pope") was there to celebrate
some saint's mass. He doesn't always announce when he is going to be in public.
They started with ringing the bells: they have different songs for different occasions.
The Patriarch chanting, with response from the choir.
Everyone trying to get a picture of the Patriarch, but it's mainly a sea of green and gold.
The ones with the black cloth hanging down the back are monks.
