Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Silk Road Day 25: Volgograd

Volgograd 01

Today we visited Volgograd, formerly Stalingrad, on the banks of the Volga river. We saw the monument with the eternal flame, guarded by high school children with what I hope were fake rifles. The changing of the guard happens every 20 minutes and seemed to take about 15 minutes to complete so I don't think they had to stand around for very long.

Volgograd 02

Volgograd 03

We saw the War Memorial and the changing of the guard there, which was quite impressive.

Volgograd 06

Volgograd 07

The concrete statue of Mother Russia cuts a rather imposing figure at the top.

Volgograd 04

We also visited the museum, which has lots of old planes and tanks on display. It is built next to a building that was partially destroyed during the battle for Volgograd in the war, which has been left standing to remind everyone how terrible war is.

Volgograd 09

Volgograd 08

The weather was magnificent. Tonight is our last night on the train so there was a party in the bar car. I will be sad to say goodbye to our train when we arrive in Moscow.