May 1

Luggage in the lobby by 8:30, breakfast finished, and onto the bus. So here comes my father wheeling together 1 large and 1 carry on size suitcase in addition to his carry-on bag. Instructions were clear - bring one bag because you will need to manage it yourself on the train. When queried about why he brought so much he said he was uncertain about the weather, brought extra jackets, etc. I guess he will manage.

So May 1 is May Day in Russia. Russia's big celebration is May 9, Russia Day. The period from May 1-May 9 or thereabouts is holiday time here. We saw, however, people lined up in the main street near the hotel and by the hotel, apparently to march down to the center of Moscow for rallies.

The Moscow Times 70,000 Rally to Support Putin on May Day 01 May 2013 | Issue 5121

About 70,000 people participated in the march down Tverskaya Ulitsa (the street where we saw people congregating) organized by two pro-Putin organizations, the United Russia party and the All-Russia People's Front, the police said in a statement. Marchers held banners with slogans such as "Moscow is the business capital of Russia," "Down with the slavery of loans" and "Decent wages are the foundation of progress." (Last year 150,000.)

A total of 2 million people were expected to participate in May Day rallies around the country during the public holiday, officially known as Spring and Labor Day, according to the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia. In Moscow, 14 other rallies were being staged Wednesday, City Hall said.

However, we were leaving the city. There was very little traffic in the city due to the holiday and we made good time. However, once outside the city, the traffic was unbelievable. It took us 3 hours to drive 70 km (45 miles) to Sergiev-Posad, our first stop in the Golden Ring. The area was first settled late 13th-early 14th century around the Trinity-Sergius Monastery founded in 1337 by St Sergius of Radonezh, and patron saint of all of Russia. He is a saint in both the Orthodox and Catholic churches. Sergius instead chose to live in the forests outside Moscow as a hermetic monk. He built a cell for himself and a small wooden church dedicated to the Holy Trinity and within time other monks came to join him in his ascetic lifestyle. After several requests Sergius eventually agreed to become Father Superior to these monks who followed his ascetic practices. As the community grew, the monastery developed.

During the Streltsy rebellion of 1685, Peter the Great took shelter in the monastery and grateful to the monastery thereafter. In the following centuries every Russian Tsar came to visit the monastery and many were baptised there and gave the monastery with gifts. The exception was Catherine the Great s who liked to point out to the monks how St. Sergius had chosen to live in poverty and thus did not donate any riches. She did however give the monastery the holy title of lavra, the highest kind of Orthodox monastery.

Prince Dmitry Donskoy's improbable victory in battle against the Mongols in 1380 was credited to the blessing of Sergius. The settlements were glorious crafts: wood carving and the manufacture of toys. 1782 by order of Catherine II , it became a town and was named Sergius Posad. In 1744 the monastery became the Lavra. In 1919 was named Sergius and St. Sergius became the center of the county, and in 1930 was renamed in honor of Zagorsk revolutionary leader Vladimir M. Lubotsky (Zagorski). 23 September 1991 the town returned the historic name of Sergiev Posad. Since the 14th century, pilgrims have come to this place to pay homage to St. Sergius.

Our visit was to the monastery, one of the most active and important in Russia. We saw monks, the ones with the beards and tall caps, student monks (unbearded), many Russian visitors including babushkas (which are not head scarves, but the old women of Russia who wear them and families with children. In the center of the monastery, there holy water spews forth and is caught in bottles by the visitors. As one walks up a path on a small hill lined with souvenir-filled tables, one approaches a large square. Those of us who wanted to take photos inside needed to buy a photo permit. We visited the various churches, walked the grounds, viewed the exterior of the residence of the Metropolitan (chief monk), and saw the grave of Boris Godunov, former head of Russia.

My first day in Moscow I had mentioned that I had visited the Matrioshka museum with the stacking dolls that are so well associated with Russia. The town of Sergiev Posad is also famous in its own right as being the birth place of the Russian doll (matrioshka). Local artists from the region who lived under the patronage of the influential entrepreneur Savva Mamontov became enamoured of the round painted wooden dolls popular in Japan in the late 19th Century. They decided to create their own Russian version of the dolls and over the following decades the Sergiev Posad region became the centre of matrioshka production in Russia. The town has its own doll factory and is supposed to be a good place to buy the dolls, but we did not visit any special place associated with the dolls. Of course, like everywhere, they were being sold as souvenirs. This seemed like a good place to write about the story of these dolls.

After the visit we went across the street for lunch and then back on the bus to head to Vladimir. Half the group apparently misunderstood where to meet the bus and went back to where we had been dropped off so we had a departure delay while trying to locate them. The bus driver heard that the main highway continued to have terrible traffic we took back roads and passed through the towns of Alexanderov and Yuriev-Polsky which gave us the opportunity to see some more out of the way places. We stopped in Yuriev-Polsky for a biobreak. Tatiana, our guide went into the small hotel, in the center to see if we could use the restrooms, but, alas, no, as the only ones there were connected with the second floor rooms. We were directed around the corner to a restaurant which worked out fine and we caught a glimpse of the party being held there. The next block over children's amusement rides were set up, presumably for later in the day or week.

The city was founded in 1152 by Yuri Dolgoruky. The fortress which he built was surrounded by earth walls nearly 7 meters thick and which could still be seen just across the street from where we parked. In the center of the fortress is the Cathedral of St. George. I took a walk ½ block to see the exterior of the fortress and the cathedral. The city was ruined by invasions of the Mongol-Tatars in 1238, 1382, and 1408. In 1340, it became part of the Grand Duchy of Moscow. During the Time of Troubles (a period with many changes in rulers or no rulers at the beginning of the XVII century Yuriev-Polsky was burned by the Poles.

Then back on the bus and off to Vladimir. We stopped near the Gate of Vladimir and had dinner at a new restaurant, Adam and Eve. Dinner was nice (soup, meat cutlet with tomatoes and cheese on top, mistaken at first for a piece of pizza and mashed potatoes topped with sour cream) especially with a vodka shot. There was a live guitar player in the restaurant. Then back in the bus. After a drive to the other side of the city we found our home for the night, Prince Vladimir Hotel.