Travel Announcement: Return to Russia!

[peacetraveler22]

It's now official! I just purchased my tickets to Russia. :) Here I am, standing on the frozen Neva River in Peter. Glorious! Dates of the visit will be 23 February - 9 March. For those in the U.S., airfares on Aeroflot are incredibly cheap now. Nonstop flights from Washington, DC or New York City to Moscow cost only $492 USD roundtrip, including taxes. I can't even fly to many places in the U.S. for this price.

The first week I'll travel with my Russian friend on a road journey to some new cities, though I'm not yet sure where. Proposed options include the following:
(1) Moscow → Yaroslavl → Vologda → St. Petersburg → Moscow

(2) Moscow → Vladimir → Novgorod → Cheboksary → Kazan → Moscow

Where to go? What to do? Suggestions for other intriguing driving routes from Moscow? Help me! :) I'm mostly interested in unusual people, wild and frozen nature and village life. Museums, Orthodox churches, and standard tourist attractions aren't really important to me.

If there's interest, I can try to arrange a reader gathering somewhere in Moscow the second week. Although I'm not sure where in the city is convenient for most people? If you know a good gathering place, like a restaurant or pub, please tell me in the comments.

I'm excited for the trip, to see if attitudes toward an American visitor have changed since my visit last February when I attended the Olympic Games. Since then, relations between our countries have shifted dramatically and even here on my blog I've noticed more anti-Americanism and hostility, even when the topic of my posts have absolutely nothing to do with politics.

Btw, I'm sure many of you saw Ilya Varlamov's post hanging in the TOP all day yesterday, but if not I suggest you give it a read. A foreign tourist's brutal impressions of Russia. Her story makes my first Russian post seem like a fairy tale. I think she was harsh in her review of the country, though she's certainly entitled to her opinion. It's especially amusing to view the reader comments to the story (over 4,000 of them now!!).

Russia - your country remains a fascinating place for me, and I'm very happy to return!

Comments

[vlad-lark.livejournal.com]

Если поедете на машине, то советую следующий маршрут: от Москвы по трассе м7 на Владимир, в городе столько мест можно посетить что все не перечислишь , затем есть смысл заехать в Суздаль там советую посетить музей деревянного зодчества и Спасо-Евфимиевский монастырь, затем вернуться на м 7 и через Гороховец на Нижний Новгород посмотрите кремль, да там много что можно посмотреть, от Нижнего на Казань, очень красивый древний город. А обратно возвращайтесь не через Нижний, а через Арзамас и Муром в этих городах много достопримечательностей, возможно Вас заинтересует Дивеево. Если совсем хорошо со временем то от Мурома не на Владимир, а на Касимов. И оттуда уже в Москву. Извините но с английским у меня не очень.

[qi-tronic.livejournal.com]

Мы там ездили в прошлом году, как раз в Дивеево, тоже зимой.
Там по дороге от Арзамаса до Сарова в чистом поле знак стоит, что иностранцам дальше нельзя.
Арестуют Шеннон как шпионку :))

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

So, how do foreigners get access? There's someone there checking documents? Omg, many people on LJ already think I'm a spy. :)) If I visited this city, their conspiracy theorists brains would explode. :))

[vlad-lark.livejournal.com]

Этот знак относится к городу Саров, или его еще называют Арзамас 16, это закрытый город, въезд строго по пропускам, хотя иностранных журналистов туда допустили во времена Ельцина. Знак стоит после Дивеево,

[qi-tronic.livejournal.com]

You would not get access to the city itself anyway.
And I would not get access.

What surprised me is that I saw the sign that foreigners not allowed after this point just on a road in the middle of nowhere.
It wasn't an entrance to the city and there was no checkpoint of any sort.
No patrols.
Just a sign like traffic signs.

I wonder what would happen if you or another foreigner drive that road futher and get caught? :)

[inoi-razum.livejournal.com]

The main problem (for tourists) with Sarov is the town is a christian sanctuary and the Federal nuclear weaponry center at the same time. For second reason, whole the city of Sarov is a restricted area. But Diveevo is free to access for everyone. I think it will be no problems for foreigner in Diveevo (maybe but the language...).

[vlad-lark.livejournal.com]

Не арестуют если в Саров не ломиться ;)

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

Привет! Спасибо за совет! :)