Its now part of the “Golden Ring” – new marketing and packaging to draw visitors to a series of cities surrounding Moscow.  These cities are some of the oldest in the country.

We used Vladimir as a jumping off point to get to Suzdal and then had an extra day to kill before catching the next leg of the railway.

The symbol of the city is the Golden Gate, perched over the city’s main drag.

The Gate was the main defensive fortification during the Mongol/Tartar invasions of the mid-1200’s and now serves as a military history museum.

A short walk west of the Golden Gate is an unsuspecting brick tower; set off from the street and partially blocked by trees.

We assumed it was a museum of some kind and even though we weren’t sure (no English speaking staff or signs to confirm) we decided to shell out the 60 Rubles – about $2USD – and give it a try.

It was a museum, I think, although it didn’t have any sort cohesive theme I could decipher.

But the interior of white, spiraling staircases was a nice surprise, as was the fourth floor…it was a gorgeous observation deck!  The marketer in me wanted to post a huge sign on the front door of the building, “Incredible City Views Here!”  Totally worth $2!

From the observation deck we scouted out our next destination, Assumption Cathedral.

Its sparkling white exterior is a major contrast to its dimly lit, claustrophobic interior.

But, its set in a nice park that overlooks the rolling country-side beyond.

 

With about an hour before our train departed, we headed back to the train station, collected our packs from baggage storage (so helpful!) and attempted to find our assigned platform.  We were still figuring out how to read our tickets (all in Russian) and ended up wandering around the station, disoriented and confused.

Finally a lovely female janitor noticed our plight, grabbed my ticket, then my hand and led us to the correct platform.  Bless her.  And eastward we went….