Yes, Russia is friendly to tourist, although Russians rarely smile, they do respect tourist and try to help if they can.
You should also note that I find Russians less friendly than Americans especially the ones who live in Moscow.
The friendlist Russians I stumbled upon in my travel was in the city called Tula, which I highly recommend to visit.
Tula is an industrial city located in Russia was out of my concern.
When we came to the topic of where we would be going for this coming vacation, I never thought my boyfriend
has already made
plans to visit Tula.
But now after coming back from our marvelous tour, I think that he was 100% correct.
Making plans to visit Tula was the wisest choice out of all.
Of course if I can, I will be going there again in the future because this city is magnificent.
I have visited so many cities and countries prior to Tula, but visiting Tula tops the list.
I love literature and I always enjoy the fine pieces of literature works by Leo Tolstoy.
So after reaching Tula, I told my boyfriend that I want to visit the residence of this famous writer as it is located relevantly 12km away from Tula.
Yasnaya Polyana, also known as the residence of Leo Tolstoy is a state memorial and a museum since 1921.
We walked a few meters along a nice path from the parking lot, passing a small lake and some greenhouses.
I really enjoyed the surroundings.
The house itself is well maintained and the items that Tolstoy used to use can be seen everywhere.
We went to see the grave of Leo Tolstoy and we walked through a little forest to see the grave of this remarkable writer.
I must admit that it was a great romantic walk though the little forest.
The house is a nice example of the fine work of art of the 19
th
and
20
th
century
.
I really enjoyed the visit to Yasnaya Polyana.
Our next destination was Tula Kremlin.
There were two cathedrals inside the Kremlin, named as ‘Assumption Cathedral’ and ‘Epiphany Cathedral’.
The external walls of the fortress were really impressive and
Kremlin
itself is very well preserved.
The strong walls and the towers were built
those
days to protect the city’s main Cathedral.
We found a fabulous museum inside.
Museum indicated the history of Tula’s armament industry.
My boyfriend was very keen and interested to explore the weapons.
Even though I’m not a huge fan of weapons, I must admit that the display was really fascinating.
It was a marvelous journey and really educational.
We were really amazed by the fine work of architecture.
We were not disappointed at all.
During our visit to Tula Kremlin we also planned our visit to the cathedral of the
annunciation
as it is situated close to
Tula Kremlin.
This is a perfect piece of art with red bricks and black domes which was built in early 900 AC.
This construction is very strong and built in a more traditional style.
Interiors of the cathedral contained beautiful pictures and icons which were very attractive.
There was a boutique in the corner of the cathedral where you can buy pictures of the place, candles, icons, and many more things.
We bought some pictures of the cathedral as a souvenir.
The journey to the cathedral was really nice and I felt very relaxed after the journey.
Next was our visit to
Tula Museum
of Samovars.
Samovar
is a traditional device which can be used to heat water to make tea.
The Museum had 3 rooms full of samovars arranged in ascending order according to the time period of their construction.
The museum had vivid varieties of samovars and they were in different sizes and colors.
I personally loved the time we spent there and I was reluctant to leave the place.
It was a great place to visit and we clicked a lot of photos there.
We saw samovars of different decades including the soviet period.
If you are interested in traditional ancient architecture, I must recommend that this is a great place to visit.
Exploring different cultures and architectures are my favorite hobbies.
So I must admit that I really enjoyed the visit.
And so did my boyfriend.
We decided to visit Gorky academic drama theater during our visit to Tula.
We watched a play there.
I was surprised by the incredible and talented performance of Russian actors.
We tried some tasty sandwiches from the cafeteria and they were really delicious, one of the best I have tasted.
It is marvelous how Russian actors imitate the American culture and exhibit it as their own.
Being a Native American, I was really amazed by their successful performances.
And I must really appreciate the support given by the supervisors and staff members.
They were really friendly and active indeed.
If you ever visit Tula, I highly recommend you to visit Gorky academic drama theater and watch a play.
And I can guarantee that you will not be disappointed
by
their brilliant performances.
Tula has a lot of ancient buildings and churches.
I can’t forget our visit to Twelve Apostles’
church
as it was very
amazingly
constructed.
According to our guide the church was finished around 1908 AC.
It is constructed as a square shape building with tile floors.
The walls of the church have nice pictures painted on them.
The church contained five domes and even though the property was somewhat smaller, I was attracted to the pleasant surroundings.
The person who made the cathedral was buried in the south.
We saw
lot
of sculptures which were very creative.
We brought souvenirs and religious candles from the church.
Our visit to the Twelve Apostles’ church was worth the day as we were amazed by the architecture and the creative sculptures.
If you are attracted to fine sculptures, visiting this place is a must.
I really enjoyed my visit.
Tula is famous for gingerbread besides weapons and samovars.
So we didn’t forget to visit the Gingerbread Museum of Tula.
It was a small museum.
A short video was shown by the museum about how gingerbread was prepared using old traditions.
It was really helpful for the tourists.
We saw different varieties of gingerbread.
We took a cup of tea and a gingerbread provided by the museum for the visitors.
The taste of the gingerbread was really amazing.
The museum had a store where they sell gingerbread.
We went there and tasted gingerbread cake which was a traditional gift of Russia.
We bought some fresh tasty gingerbread souvenirs too.
If you happen to visit Tula don’t forget to visit this wonderful gingerbread museum and taste a delicious gingerbread.
I must say you will not regret a bit.
As I mentioned earlier Tula has lots of churches.
We decided to visit the church of the
annunciation
as our last visit.
But we didn’t get bored by watching different churches as every church situated in Tula has a different traditional value.
According to our guide, it was created by local architects from Pskov.
So it is a typical example of Russian traditional architecture.
The dimension of the annunciation cathedral is a little bit smaller if we compare it with the Kremlin cathedrals.
The interior is designed nicely and I was highly attracted to the amazing paintings painted
in
the inner walls of the church.
I highly enjoyed this visit same as my other visits around Tula.
So this trip to Tula was very fascinating and I really enjoyed every bit of the journey.
If you appreciate architecture and if you are interested to watch and admire traditional architecture and fine art works, Tula is the best place for you.
As my boyfriend and I are very keen and fascinated by the creative architecture and art works, we really enjoyed our journey to its best.