Mike and I took a train Friday night to Kazan. We left Moscow at 730pm, and arrived in Kazan, twelve hours later (!). It was definitely an interesting experience. We took 3rd class, where its a giant car with 54 beds...it wasnt too bad. They have roll out mattress pad thingys, and then they give you new clean sheets to put over everything. It is hard to get to sleep, but it wasnt as bad as one might imagine a plascart train in Russia to be, which bodes well for the month we have to spend on the train later on...
We spent Saturday morning having tea and coffee with Aygul and Ildar. Then we went to the Kazan Kremlin, which has the Qul Sharif mosque, and a good lookout over the city and the Kazanka river. Oh, and it was -13 degrees Celsius and windy. You can see all of the snow that is there too in the pictures that I posted on picasa. That night, we went to see a play in Tatar, which was originally Spanish, so not quite authentic Tatar theater, but close. And, at some point, I was dubbed Rudolph because my nose was a consistent bright red throughout the weekend because of the cold. Then went to a cafe and met another friend, Dilyara, before heading home, almost a full 24 hours after we got there.
Sunday, Aygul and Ildar showed me Kazan State University (where Lenin, Aygul, and Ildar went to school, not that they are related, but they are all equally important :D ). We indulged on some Tatar cuisine that night and then decided to go see a late movie: I am Legend, ( Ya Lengenda). This was interesting, because it was a zombie movie that was made a bit scarier since it was all in Russian. There is also a part where Will Smith sings along to Bob Marley. Except in Russia, it is a dubbed over, high pitched voice singing a Bob Marley song in Russian but appearing to be Will Smith's voice.
Monday was just relaxing and catching up...Aygul, Dilyara, and I bought some ice cream walking back from the store, and I was told that it would make me warmer, haha. We left for Moscow on the train Monday night and got back Tuesday morning, just in time for classes. yay.
We spent Saturday morning having tea and coffee with Aygul and Ildar. Then we went to the Kazan Kremlin, which has the Qul Sharif mosque, and a good lookout over the city and the Kazanka river. Oh, and it was -13 degrees Celsius and windy. You can see all of the snow that is there too in the pictures that I posted on picasa. That night, we went to see a play in Tatar, which was originally Spanish, so not quite authentic Tatar theater, but close. And, at some point, I was dubbed Rudolph because my nose was a consistent bright red throughout the weekend because of the cold. Then went to a cafe and met another friend, Dilyara, before heading home, almost a full 24 hours after we got there.
Sunday, Aygul and Ildar showed me Kazan State University (where Lenin, Aygul, and Ildar went to school, not that they are related, but they are all equally important :D ). We indulged on some Tatar cuisine that night and then decided to go see a late movie: I am Legend, ( Ya Lengenda). This was interesting, because it was a zombie movie that was made a bit scarier since it was all in Russian. There is also a part where Will Smith sings along to Bob Marley. Except in Russia, it is a dubbed over, high pitched voice singing a Bob Marley song in Russian but appearing to be Will Smith's voice.
Monday was just relaxing and catching up...Aygul, Dilyara, and I bought some ice cream walking back from the store, and I was told that it would make me warmer, haha. We left for Moscow on the train Monday night and got back Tuesday morning, just in time for classes. yay.
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