Cities of the Golden Circle

Pine Mountain

Hello again from Pine Mountain. Spring is getting into full swing. Everything is spring green. The birds are singing and flowers are blooming. The fences are mended and it is time to turn the beef cattle loose so they can eat and grow. This week we have been trimming the apple trees so they will give us maximum harvest in the fall. It has been warm this week so we had the barn painted. It looks good with a fresh coat of white paint.
This week our globe trotting adventurer Roxana has a story about the Cities of the Golden Circle. We also have our usual sections on Alternative Energy, Health and Wellness, Internet Niche Marketing, and Inexpensive Travel.

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The Cities of the Golden Ring

The cities of the golden ring form a 400 kilometer circle to the Northeast of Moscow. Officially there are 8 cities but in reality there are 19. The eight official cities are : Ivanovo, Kostromo, Pereslavl-Zalesskiy, Rostov-Veliki, Sergiev-Posad, Suzdal, Vladimir, and Yaroslavl. The unofficial cities are Alexandrov ,Gus Khrustalniy, Muron, Rybinsk, Uglich, Yuriev Polsky, Plyos, Kovrov, Shuya, Tutaev, and Palekh.

Ivanovo is called the city of brides because of the several hundred thousand textile workers most of them women that work there. It is an industrial city and does not have the shine and polish of the other golden ring cities.

Kostroma founded in the 12 century and is the home of the Hypatian monastery. The ruling families the Godynovs and Romanovs spent lots of money fixing up the town. The cathedral of the trinity has many painted murals. One of the ancient wooden churches burned down in 2002. The 16th century Monastery has become famous for its multicolored high quality flax.

Pereslavl-Zalesskiy sits on the shores of Pleshcheevo lake. It was founded in 1152. it is the home of the blue stone from outer space that many think have healing powers.





Rostov-Veliki sits on the shores of lake Nero. Founded in 862 it has earthen ramparts and stone walls called a Kremlin that date from the 17 th century. The architect of the Kremlin was Ion Sisovecha. The churches in the Kremlin are always freshly painted and well kept up. If you stay overnight you will be treated like a boyar. You will be fed 3 times a day and you can dine on stuffed fritters, juicy pelmenis crackling cucumber, borsch soups and other Russian dainties. In the winter time you can ride a 3 horse sleigh that has bells on it. The coachman will be Ded Moroz the Russian Santa Claus. Souvenirs after the trip are entrusted to Snegyrochka (Ded Moroz granddaughter.

Sergiev Posad It is a combination of a fortress and a monastery built in 1345. The Patriarch of the Russian Orthadox church lives here.




Suzdal is 25 kilometers north of Vladimir. Only the cathedrals are allowed to be over 2 stories tall. It is known for Miedovukha a cider like drink made from honey. All the building are kept as they were in the past in the 12th to the 14th centuries.

Vladimir was founded in 1108 by Vladimir Monomakh. It is the pearl of the golden ring. It was overtaken and looted by the Mongols under Batu Khan in 1238. It has a golden gate and a museum film about the defense against the Tartar Mongols in1238.





Yaroslavl was founded in 1010 by Yaroslav the wise. The city was burned in 1658 and rebuilt in stone. Today 600,000 people live there. It is known as the Florence of Russia.
You could spend several weeks exploring the towns of the golden circle and still not see everything.




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Pine Mountain Evening

It has been a long day. I am relaxing by the fire in my gas fireplace with a cup of coffee from http://www.coffeefool.com/ Tonight I am trying Coconut Dream. This is a great coffee if you like coconut. It is just right for relaxing by the fire. Squeekers my African Grey parrot is munching peanuts sitting on his perch by the fire. I finish my coffee, put away my Discover magazine, put Squeekers in his cage, Turn off the fireplace, and head off for bed. Good night all see you next week.