June 12. Today is Russia Day, celebrating the formation of the Russian Federation. What was remarkable was how few people there were around today for a holiday. I was expecting crowds, but when I wandered down to the Kremlin, there were almost more police than people. The State Department has warned all U.S. citizens about possible demonstrations that could get ugly, so we are keeping a fairly low profile. To be honest, I took yet another nap in the quest to kill jet lag.

I took a bunch of photos today, and I hope that they will work here. Let's see:

This first one is a photograph of the entry gate to the Kremlin, known as the Spassky Tower. The thing is huge, and you can really get a feel for how daunting a task attacking it must have been. You can get some idea of the scale from the people and the tour bus and cars in front of it. Once inside, there is a piece of land shaped roughly like a spearhead about a mile long, and enclosing about 37 acres. Everything is circled by a wall and rampart with watch towers about every 100 yards.

Here we have two views of the Cathedral of the Annunciation, which is a scant 300 feet or so from the Kul Sharif mosque. Saturday, when we visited Kul Sharif (Carly and Anna have taken some spectacular pictures of the interior), we happened to be there at noon, just as the call to prayer went out. The Muezzin had the most incredible tenor voice!

To show you haw close these two centers of worship are, check out the picture below:

You can see the four minarets and the central core of the mosque clearly, and to give you perspective, I was sat about sixty feet from the cathedral when I took this picture.

Also inside the Kremlin is the Presidential Palace of the Republic of Tatarstan. Tatarstan is an independent Republic within the Russian Federation, and it has remained rather more autonomous than other parts of the Federation. The president does actually live in the palace, which also houses a number of the offices of government for the Republic of Tatarstan.

The palace is guarded by two highly decorative gates, as you can see. It is next door to the cathedral, as well as the Söyembikä tower.

In the lower picture, the tower is seen from the plaza in front of the mosque. It is the tallest structure in the Kremlin, and it dates to the Kazan Khanate. There is a legend that Ivan the Terrible wanted to marry Söyembikä, who was the last of the Tatar female rulers (she was regent for her son). She told Ivan that she would marry him if he built a seven-tiered tower which, in keeping with his ability to accomplish amazing building feats in a minimum amount of time, he accomplished in a single week. Söyembikä disappointed him, however, when she threw herself from the tower.

Look at the photographs and you will understand why I have a little touch of the sun. The weather has been absolutely gorgeous—look at the skies in the pictures—and walking out and about has been delightful. The temperatures have been in the low-to-mid 70s, with a light breeze. I have kept myself cool by buying Russian ice-cream. For around 50-75 cents, you can get a huge come full of soft serve that tastes like it was made with real cream and sugar! I know I am getting addicted to this stuff.

Here we have the view cross the river to the modern city. The building that looks like a pot (cauldron) on a sterno-burner base about 25% in from the left edge of the picture on the far bank is a popular place for weddings. The cauldron has figured prominently in the history of Kazan, and it is a symbol of good luck, so people try to schedule their nuptuals there.

This photograph is looking the other way over the battlements. The pyramid-shaped building is, if I recollect rightly, a hotel. When you look over the wall on the other side of the ridge, you see one very fancy government building:

And finally, this is the exterior of the Peter and Paul Cathedral taken from the corner of the street. It was threatening rain, and walking with the boot on is a heavy workout, so your weasel-in-chief declined to climb half way down the hill to see it more closely. It has the distinction of being the only Russian Orthodox Church in the city where you are permitted to take photographs inside. We will go back there as a group and photograph it to bits.

More anon, loyal readers!