Russian Icon Tour, Part 6 Suzdal

We woke at 3:30 am when some vodka-filled wedding guests began cavorting down the lane. I looked through the window screen again at 5 am when a flock of loud-mouthed birds decided to have an early morning conversation. 

Unable to sleep in, and wanting to beat the predicted rainfall, I took a stroll around the hotel. 

Across a meandering stream, I saw a stereotypical fisherman, hard at work. 

Today we picked up another guide, and took in the picturesque villages of Suzdal and Vladimir. After strolling through a historic wood village museum, we drove to this beautiful convent. 

Where we saw their counting house, chapel and gardens. 

The bus took us over to the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin, where we saw some ancient Golden Gates

and marveled at the cobalt blue interior. 

We did some shopping, then had a nice lunch which ended with a surprise birthday cake for one of our travelers. Me. Thanks!

Looks beautiful, doesn't it?

A few minutes later, wham, the storm hit. And we hadn't even finished setting up our tents for the night! (Just kidding)

We took another hike to another chapel, far across a grassy plain. 

At last the day's activities wound down. We reached our new hotel in Vladimir, and headed for the showers.