Velikey Novgorod

Velikey Novgorod is one of the oldest cities in Russia. It was first mentioned in 859!!! During the war it was occupied for about 2.5 years. During this time many of its historical sites were demolished. After the war though the center of the city was able to be restored.

This is the monument to 1000 years of Russian government. Built in 1862 taken apart by the Germans to be shipped back to Germany as a war trophy then recovered again by the Soviets and reassembled. the detail on it is AMAZING

We had 2 hours to kill before we could check into the hotel we found so we got on a tour boat and went up the river and back. That's not our boat that is a boat that has been put there and is now a restaurant.

The Kremlin from our boat. the big white bell tower, the one with 6 pillars in the center of the picture, was destroyed in the war and rebuilt

A monastery in the back ground. in the foreground there is a pillar you can see. they were going to build a bridge here around the turn of the century but then decided ehhh nahhh its not worth it.......

After the boat ride we still had an hour to kill so started walking around looking for dinner. We ran across this administration building still with its Soviet signs and emblems.

We got checked into our hotel and situated then headed back out. We ran across this guy in a park. I am not sure what kind of an animal that is but he also had a python, monkey, alligator and macaw there to take pictures with if you would pay him.

One of the WWII burials in the city. This one was located in the Kremlin.

Inside that white bell tower I had pointed out earlier.

One of the old bells with shrapnel damage from the war.

I wanted to introduce you guys to my new girlfriend. I never caught her name and she didn't say much she was even kind of cold but well take what you can get I guess.

Then we ran across this folk festival that was really interesting. The people stood up there for about an hour singing old songs. My Russian isn't the best anyways but I understood nothing. When I asked Okcana what they were saying she said well its really really old Russian and I can only understand maybe 50%. That made me feel like the 0-1% I could understand was pretty good.

The red church was built around 1100 and the white was built sometime in the 1000's....... Amazing, especially for an American, to see buildings this old. In Kansas 100 years old is almost unbelievable.

Some of the original paintings were still visible in the red church.

The white church was in much better shape.

More Original Paintings in the white church.

These were students in the park putting on a concert. They were good though their teacher was a bit to serious.

This is the theatre. Ugliest building I have seen here. 

By this point we had been walking most all day and were tired. We got some food and decided to call it a night. This is the last night for Okcana she is getting on the train and going back to Tver. The trip continues for me but I apologize to everyone for the future lack of pictures of her unfortunately you will be seeing more of my ugly mug.