Kazan train station. Some Cyrillic words are sorta easy to figure out: KA3AH = KAZAN.
The Tatar girl who greeted our bus at the Kazan Kremlin.
Tasting the Tatar (rice krispie) treat.
A statue in front of the Kremlin.
The cathedral in the Kazan Kremlin. While I was taking photographs a cute man came up and tapped me on the shoulder--he led me across the street and told me (in pantomime!) to take a photo from there. This is that shot--the best I got by far!
Entrance to the cathedral. I loved how the exterior was painted.
Inside it was dark. All of the cathedral walls were completely covered in painted icons and gold.
Close-up of the cathedral wall.
The mosque, bright and new and such a contrast to the cathedral. (No interior photos allowed.)
Another view of the mosque.
There were several buildings like this in the Kremlin. Perhaps the original watchtowers? I really liked them.
Kremlin flowers.
Another cathedral in the Kremlin. Are you starting to get a sense of the presence of religion in Russian life? (Even though the communists tried to wipe it out?)
New homes for the oil barons of Kazan. There is a heliport in this housing complex.
On the Volga.
View of the Kremlin from the Volga.
Downtown Kazan--a statue and a cathedral. What's new?
Actually, this was the only Mickey-Ds we saw the whole trip! You'd know it anywhere, wouldn't you?
A typical site in Kazan--"under construction."
LOVED these babushkas.
The Golden Eagle waiting for our return in Kazan station.
