Rusher, Week 2

We're in Volgograd at the moment, which most people probably know better as Stalingrad. The city was almost completely destoyed during World War 2 and rebuilt after, so we made yesterday our Battle of Stalingrad day. The War Memorial on the edge of the city stands on a site where over one million are estimated to have died over months of fighting. Its centrepiece was an 80m high statue of Mother Russia holding a sword over her head. Needless to say it was very impressive. (pictures soon). They also have a very good battle museum.

Prior to Volgorgrad we were in Samara and Kazan. Unfortunately we were blighted in both by awful weather, we got one horrible wet day and one chilly dry day in each. Both were certainly interesting, with some beautiful architecture and sights. We went to see Lenin's old family home in Samara, where an old woman gave us the most uninformative tour ever: 'Here is his desk, here is where he cut bread'. Both I think left more of an impression from walking around than from anything in particular we went to see. Kazan I liked most I think. It reminded a little of home; lots of cafes and lots of new buildings, most not finished yet. Nothing reminds me of Ireland more than scaffolding and cranes.

This evening we head to Rostov on Don, and then back to Moscow for a day before going to St Petersburg. I'll post agin in a few days, and try to put up more pictures too. I hope everyone is good.

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