A Day in Pskov

It turned out that not much sleep was had on the train ride due to open carriages and lack of ventilation. Arriving in Pskov, we only had time to freshen up before our bus tour. We saw the city Kremlin from across the river at the cathedral of the Three Sacraments - where Elizabeth had seen three rays of light when the area was just a forest and subsequently ordered a cathedral built with a surrounding town.

View of Pskov Kremlin

We then made our way up to the border with Estonia to visit Pechory Monastery, stopping at roadside stalls for some delicious strawberries. We donned scarves and skirts to enter the monastery and were even allowed to enter the burial caves (not all tourists are allowed inside them to ensure the temperature is kept at 5 deg C). We only had a thin candle to light the way which made the whole experience very Indiana Jones-esque. We were careful not to lose the group leader!

After the Monastery we headed to a local retreat in order to take part in a Banya.
How to perform a Banya:
1. Season with a shot of vodka
2. Heat at 70 deg C until sweating
3. Tenderise by thrashing with birch twigs soaked in water
4. Quench with cold water
5. Run in to lake (sqealing optional)

After these exertions, we filled ourselves full of traditional Russian cuisine - chicken kebab-ish pieces, pickles, cabbage salad, salmon, potatoes and spiced biscuit/cakes. We then went back to our hotel fully sated to nap (ahh sleep, finally). We woke up for the group dinner... not that we needed it, and then had a lovely sunset walk along the river before heading back to bed.

l
R
x
and Judy