Yesterday I got some real benefit from the several excursions I have been on in Vladimir and Suzdal. One of the other teacher's family arrived in Russia on Thursday, and they wanted to see the ancient city of Suzdal, which is not far from Vladimir. Their son, however, had to teach yesterday, and it looked like they might not be able to go. I was free yesterday, so I said I would be happy to be a guide for a day.

We took a buses to and from Suzdal, which was a very Russian experience. The first bus was an old PAZ--a Russian mini-bus--and the second bus was running late because of mechanical problems--it looked to have a pretty nasty coolant leak. We got to see a side of Russia that a lot of tourists don't.

But once we got it Suzdal, everything was great. Suzdal has an unfathomable number of old churches, and we poked around, bought souvenirs, and visited some of the historic sites. Of course, you could spend several days there and not see everything. I think everyone really enjoyed it, and I had a lot of fun being the guide and translator.

On our way back, we stumbled across a choral concert on Vladimir's main square. The choir is a famous group from Moscow, and the performance was part of a big festival of Orthodox Christian culture here in Vladimir. Here are two pictures of the scene. Note the guys dressed up as knights in the second shot.