Day 24 March 9th 2017 – Kazan
This morning our guide Ildus – whom we had met briefly the night before – came and collected us at the hotel. We walked to the main square near our hotel with the ubiquitous statue of Lenin.
There he told us that we were now in the capital of Tartarstan and asked if we had heard of the famous Tartar (e) sauce that was invented there. This of course started the relationship on the wrong track with he and I exchanging witticisms throughout our brief encounter. My next one being “No I thought you invented the steak!!!” Boom Boom.
We travelled through the centre of town where the administrative buildings sat side by side with very glamorous apartment buildings with the attic windows typical of many European cities. Church spires of all kinds mingle throughout the city.
Tatarstan we were discovering was proudly Tatar. They have there own government and president with prime minister. ‘Tatar’ pronounced said with more emphasis on the second syllable T’taar.
We walked through the university precinct and past some of Kazan’s many theatres. The newly fantasy facade of the puppet theatre, closer to our hotel the theatre of opera and ballet, orchestra tbeatre and the theatre for military music.
Called in on a Tartar themed tourist village. We visited arts and craft displays where we were plied with delicious honey middle eastern like sweets and pancakes cooked in a wood oven. After a demonstration of local leather craft the no-buy rule was broken for a simple leather medallion necklace with an embossed heart.
On to the main street – Bauman Street which is a pedestrian mall full of souvenir shops and restaurants named after a Russian Revolutionary. The ever present American fast food chains including KFC in a beautiful old building.
Ildus left us and we continued to the Kazan Kremlin. Now I had always thought that there was one Kremlin and that was in Moscow-well dear reader I was wrong. It turns out that Kremlin is a generic word for fort and within its walls can be found cathedrals palaces and military headquarters. In this case it also contains the president’s residence and a beautiful mosque.
Having walked through the Kremlin we then went to a delightful eating place translated “Cafe Yurta” Ildus had recommended. It was canteen style where we pointed and received-the meal was hearty, cheap, delicious. Perfect buttery, light pastry filled with creamy chicken.
Later that evening we walked back to the Kremlin and Ildus took us through again -we managed, through him begging the guard, to quickly visit inside the mosque. A beautifully simple building with its soaring minarets – lit at night the exterior was spectacular while the interior was awash with pale turqoise blue -soothing gentle peaceful space.
We then wandered around the complex, which at night was magical with all structures lit and strategic snow adding to the effect. Expansive views of the city lights and other large lit buildings.
After seeing it from above we visited the Family Center of Kazan – a marriage registry. Built as media centre for the games but not used for that purpose. A purple building lit up at night, the shape of a Kazan ( a traditional cooking pot). It is surrounded by 4 huge statues of mythical beasts. It really defies description, as a wedding venue-I will leave it to the reader to see the photo and make up their own mind.
Close by we made a quick trip to the supermarket for train supplies – so much easier with a guide and translator on hand. Maybe too easy we came away with treats galore including a delicious sweet pie that had layers of shortcrust pastry with orange, lemon and a date like layer.
Finally zapping past the Kazan Arena built for the Student games, a large international event. It boasts Europe’s largest outdoor screen.
Decided on dinner at the hotel as we were both cold and tired. This in itself was epic-I ordered chicken and got fish-Mel ordered several items and one was missed. Google translate saved the day as I used it to explain fish was not chicken and got it replaced. This has become legend as the sentence “I ordered the chicken wings” continues to pop up on Google.
