Wednesday, May 25 - it's a question of habit

Today we woke up in Suzdal and had breakfast. After breakfast, we had some time before the bus left, so we wandered around town a bit more. Found an open air market where all the merchants were setting up for the day.

We then made our way to a place called "Yuri of the fields" (I don't remember the Russian name, but that's what it means). There we visited... wait for it... another church. This one was from the 13th century, before the Mongolians invaded Russia and destroyed all the old churches. This is one of the only stone churches from that period that was not destroyed.

After a late and long lunch (we finished eating arond 4:00PM), we headed to Rosdal, another town with old churches and cathedrals. As we were wandering around here, a busload of nuns came along, all dressed in long black robes and habits. They got off the bus, gathered at the door of the church for about 2 minutes, then all got back on the bus and were on their way. Very strange - I have no idea if they gathered to say a prayer or if they were planning to visit the church, but it was closed, or if this is just some kine of Russian Orthodox ritual.

We then went to our hotel, which was a series of log cabins on the side of a lake. They were each made up of two stories, with kitchenette, sitting area and a loft with the beds upstairs. Very cute and cozy, although the grounds didn't quite seem ready for the season. It's still early for what obviously looks like a summer retreat area. It was comfortable though and nice quite for a good night's sleep.

Next we're heading to Yaroslavl for another day of visiting churches.

Take care,

Marc.