Kazan: Hotel living area; hotel courtyard from bedroom.

 

Kazan; The bowl in the distance represents Kazan, which means "cooking pot" in the Tatar language.

 

April 9, Kazan

Janet and Laura had booked us a suite in a nice Italian owned place called "Hotel Giuseppe", right on Kremlevskaya.....running east from the Kazan Kremlin. Beautiful old building, very Euro. Furnishings that reminded me of staying in Venice decades ago. Up some stairs, no elevator. Windows onto a nice courtyard. Nice quiet corridors. Lights in them would come on by motion detector. Staff was really nice, very helpful. All spoke perfect English. We had a huge space---2 bedrooms, bath, dining room, fridge, TV nook, TVs in rooms, kind of a waiting area with couches when you come in the door. Almost too much space. Really nice wooden cabinets everywhere, glasswear. Boticelli prints on the wall. Some a little strange. Very comfortable. I would stay there again. Price extremely reasonable. We settled in a bit and rested, then went out and got a look at the Kremlin in the early evening. This is a Unesco World Heritage sight, beautiful buildings, cobblestone streets, towers, a mosque, and an Orthodox Church. The Republic of Tatarstan is headquartered here. President lives here. Walls were built in the 16th Century. Views from here of the confluence of the Kazanka and Volga rivers. Chilly and windy.We are a bit farther north here than Saratov. There are still a bunch of people still ice fishing on the rivers. Girls do some shopping at little gift shops on the Kremlin grounds, then we go back to the room for more rest before dinner. We ate in the Italian restaurant on premises. I had Pasta Carbonara, women more pasta and pizza. As is common here, everything is delivered at different times. Laura's pizza is first---strange. There is a group of Russian guys at another table, a bit loud but not at all unpleasant. They keep looking over at our table from time to time and laughing. I am thinking, "what the......" until I look above us on the wall at our table. There is a print of a Muslim woman, head covered demurely....topless....hmmm. Only at an Italian hotel in Russia. I have some vodka with dinner. Ladies have wine. We are up and to bed by 10-11 oclock.
Next day we are to meet our new student guides, who turn out to be awesome.