Before heading East on the Trans-Siberian Railway, it was suggested to visit Veliky Novgorod, one of the oldest cities in Russia that can trace its founding back to the year 859. Think about that for a moment…that is over a thousand years! What is the earliest event from US history you can think of? I doubt it reaches this far back.
Arriving overnight from Moscow prior to the sunrise, I was greeted by a closed train station. This made me a bit uneasy. I had planned on lingering there in the morning. It struck me as ironic that I was fairly close to Moscow, but seemed further off the beaten track than cities in Siberia, as none of those stations had been closed during my visits.
Not flustered, but slowly questioning why I thought coming here in the dead of winter was a good idea, I came across an American Icon: McDonalds! What a beacon of hope to come to my rescue. Inside it looked just like America! Except here they use touch screens to place orders. They even have the menu translated into English. I had made my temporary headquarters in a contemporary American Icon in the oldest city in Russia.
The McDonalds
After a morning musing over the irony, I set out into the city center towards its Kremlin.
Likely because the area is a UNESCO World Heritage, it has a staffed “visitor’s center” year round. Upon finding it to rent an audio guide, I was welcomed with a bit of surprise that any tourist had shown up, particularly an American.
Visitor’s Center
The girl working the counter, probably still in high school, questioned me with curiosity. While I was conveying how much I enjoyed traveling by trains in Russia she interjected with disbelief asking, “they [Russian trains] are even better than American ones?”
I do not think I left her convinced. It bothers me that there is occasionally this perception that the United States has a superior impression about it. Maybe it is just human nature to believe the grass is always greener elsewhere.
Departing the “visitor’s center” I began my audio tour. A statue of Lenin near the main gate to the Kremlin greeted me. Although I find Lenin statues in Russia now to be laughably common, I am still astounded by how pervasive his image still is, decades after this death and even the fall of his form of government. The audio recording mentioned that Novgorod roughly translates into “New Town.” Historians believe this implies there is an “old town” somewhere that would date further back, however it has not been uncovered.
Lenin’s Statue
The centerpiece inside the Kremlin in my opinion is not the nearly thousand-year-old cathedral. Rather, it is Millennium of Russia monument. It is a tall, bell shaped monument divided into three tiers constructed with 129 statues. The statues reflect different happenings from Russian History. Never have I seen a monument express so much.
Millennium of Russia Monument
The Cathedral inside the Kremlin. One of the oldest structures in Russia.
A cool roadside I liked.
View of one of the walls of the Kremlin
In the end the city’s historic area validated its efforts to be visited before heading back on the overnight train toward Moscow.
// Oliver