I had decided to visit Karelia as it was the perfect midpoint between Kizhi and Saint Petersburg. The Ruskeala Mountain Park promised a memorable landscape and I was, at the time, thinking in how far down the lake/river I would go... oooh was I naive.
"You will need to show your passport and visa, prepare them" I was told as soon as I boarded the train back in SPB.
The stop was everything I expected and a bit more. There have even been shows I've watched recently that show a rural train and they have all reminded me of Sortavala. The trip via fast train took 4 hours.
To visit Kizhi, one must board a big boat from Petrozavodsk with about 200 other people and ride for an hour. I did not make any friends there, more like enemies: I had barely made it on time and had to leave my apartment's key on the dock. The landlady was fuming.
The Kizhi Pogost was magnificent, as magnificent as the largest needle-less temple in the world can be. Inside is a very large tryptic of gold-plated icons. I had a picture of the place but unfortunately could not remember where it is. What I do remember is that there was a very friendly lady that seemed uncharacteristically interested in getting to know me and seemed super sad I was leaving. Sorry girl...
Karelians, Veps and Russians coexisted and tamed the circumstances, which existed around fishing.
Chapel dedicated to Archangel Michael.
People here up north love irony. This town's fire building was built in 1888.
Seeing Murmansk in a sign board hit hard. Were we really that close already? Not really, 1000km away, but I was still stoked.
"Is this the classiest KFC in the world or what" my first thought. The former USSR countries have a thing for grandiose fast-food entrances.