Home Away from Home

I first moved to Russia in 2002. I landed in the city of Vladimir, a "small town" by Russian standards, which is about 200 km. to the east of Moscow. I spent the year studying the Russian language, volunteering at the local center for orphanage graduates, and keeping my home open to any orphanage grad who needed a hot meal, a warm shower, or a place to sleep for the night.

The city of Vladimir holds a very special place in my heart - it always will. It was my first "Home Away from Home". It was in this city that I learned survival skills, as well as Russian grammar.
This past weekend, I encouraged several of my friends to join me on a getaway to my favorite town. Here, one may get a realistic snapshot of life in this vast country. These places are the real Russia.

Somewhere there exists an unwritten rule which states that anytime I take friends to Vladimir for a long winter weekend, temperatures are required to plummet. This year was no exception. We were thoroughly frozen by the time we started for Moscow.

The following are a few photos of our excursions around the city, and of our day trip to Suzdal', another small village north of Vladimir.