Today was the last day of Maslenitsa, which is a week-long celebration before the beginning of Orthodox lent. We went to the little, historic city of Suzdal for the festival today. The whole town was full of people, and the roads were closed. On the main square, there were tons of shops and food stands set up, and there was a concert going on.

This holiday has quite a few traditions associated with it. These include eating blini (thin pancakes) and burning an effigy (it is a giant doll that symbolizes winter). There are also a lot of traditional games and activities, such as climbing up a tall pole and a having "friendly" fistfight. There was a pole that people tried to climb--one guy even made it to the top--but sadly we didn't see any organized fistfighting. We walked around Suzdal, ate lots of blini, visited a few of the many churches and monasteries, had some medovukha (a somewhat alcoholic, very traditional Slavic drink made from honey), and then watched the effigy of winter get burned. It was a good day!

Also, somewhere in the course of the day we remembered that is it also St. Patrick's Day. Although I forgot to wear any green and didn't do anything related to the holiday, I wish everyone a happy St. Paddy's Day from the other side of the world.

Here are some pictures of the day's festivities.