Troika/shashlik/dacha Adventure:
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| Internet photo of what a Troika looks like...so beautiful! |
After one failed attempt (because there was no snow) we were able to experience a great Russian tradition in the countryside this past weekend. Our troika (meaning "group of three" in Russian) adventure began Saturday morning with ten of us from the Canadian Embassy. After a journey of a couple of hours we arrived to our destination in the forest. Our chariots arrived soon thereafter and off we went. I was slightly disappointed, I have to say, only because there was just one large horse per sleigh, not three as is traditionally done. My disappointment was soon forgotten as we hopped in our sleigh and headed off into the forest.
I have no clue where we were other than we were in a very remote area near Sergiev Posad about 70 km North-East of Moscow. In this city is The Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius and it is known as the most important Russian monastery and spiritual centre. We didn't see the city or the monastery however.
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| The Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius |
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| I hope you can open this video of the music and the FABULOUS dancing! Notice the bear tent in the background.. |
It was wonderful to be out in nature, with good friends, the horses and we were all thrilled to be there together for this adventure.
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| Alain wearing Francine's hat on top of his... excited to get started |
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The Gang...sorry my hood is blocking you Shirly! left to right: Alain, Nathalie,
Francine (white coat), Steven, Jack and in the front row, me (with the
fur hood), Craig, and Cat (her husband Brandon is taking the photo). |
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| Getting loaded into the sleigh |
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| Craig forcing Brandon to get in the picture. |
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| Steven, Nathalie and I excited for the sleigh ride to begin |
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| The sleigh ahead of us greeting our soon to be new Russian friends at camp |
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| We were greeted by these two wonderful characters |
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| Our fire pit... Alain being Alain in the background and Shirly looking lovely and happy |
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| One of the gorgeous horses... and me. |
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| THIS is a troika! It's just a picture of a troika at this camp. lol |
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| Alain roasting his wiener in the fire. It was a great fire pit with very comfy and beautiful wood stools. It wasn't really very cold... we were all over-dressed, but better dressed too warmly than not being dressed warm enough! |
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| Rockin' it out! |
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| Alain, Brandon and Cat chillin' by the fire. |
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| Shirly and I in a little tent made out of branches and covered in snow, complete with a bear rug. |
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| Note to self... don't try to climb the toboggan hill with your screwdriver in hand! |
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| A very serious toboggan race! |
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| Craig's cheating! |
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| Good fun! |
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| Cat was scared at first, but she looks like she's having fun! |
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| Trying out all the different sliding apparatuses. |
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| This one was the best! |
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| Look Ma! No hands! |
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| Craig and Alain...aka, the goofballs |
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| Us ladies were having a little discussion with Victor, one of the men who drives/controls the horses....He was a very interesting character and was quite "piani" (drunk)! |
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| He had a "charming" habit of touching people in the chest area a LOT when talking to them. Men, women.... he didn't discriminate |
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| I think he liked me... |
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| Jack and Shirly. They're our wonderful neighbours who live directly below us and have been an awesome pair to hang out with and get to know. We've had the privilege of being invited over several times for their fabulous dinner parties! |
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| Posing with the horses in our traditional Russian headdresses |
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| Gorgeous! |
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| I am slightly scared of, but LOVE horses! I thought I'd help him out. |
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| And then my buddy Victor came over to show me how to take control of the horse... guess he thought I was being a chicken |
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| Francine & Alain's turn for the headgear |
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| Shirly's more natural with horses than I. |
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| Most of us got in on the dancing action. It was a lot of fun! |
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| Swing your partner round and round! |
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| The accordion man was awesome! |
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| Steve bustin' a move! |
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| Either I was off on my timing with "when to put your foot in" or everyone else was! lol Good concentration face Jack! |
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| happy love birds dancing and whistling |
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| Guess what? They even do the chicken dance in Russia! |
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| Hooray! |
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| Good form Francine and Steve! |
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| Your form is a little lacking Alain, but your partner Cat looks happy! |
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| Our hosts in the forest! Watch out for "happy hands Victor" Cat! |
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| Hmmm.... pork shashlik! |
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| Steve and Victor having a man-to-man talk about balding |
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| He's telling Steve to just shave it off.... |
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| Like him! |
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| Enjoying the sleigh ride after a few drinkies. |
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| You can't really tell, but Victor, the horseman is asleep! |
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| Brushing each other off after a tumble in the snow |
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| Good times! |
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| A sawing contest! |
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| Apparently you only pull because if you also push it bends the saw and defeats the purpose! |
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| A great time was had by all! All good things must come to an end though... good-bye forest, horses, and our fabulous group who fed and entertained us all. |
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| Our dacha (Russian summer house - and I guess sometimes a winter house too) for the night! It was SO amazing! I loved it! Very old fashioned with some very interesting decoration and furniture. |
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| The creepy, abandoned dacha across the street |
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| Jack & Shirly's room |
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| Add caption |
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| Cat & Brandon's room |
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| the upstairs foyer |
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| Another bedroom |
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| Our welcoming committee! |
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| Some serious card playing. |
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| Religious icon in your bedroom anyone? |
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| A beautiful hand-painted screen in our room. |
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| Going for a little walk the morning after |
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| Another dacha in the area... so cute! |
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| another creepy dacha in the hood. |
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| Our beautiful dacha. |
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| The bath house behind our dacha. |
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| Posing Russian style |
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| The gang for breakfast |
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| Steve making new ice fishing Russian friends on our little walk |
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| Craig found this little guy in the yard and brought him out to show me as we were getting ready to leave... don't worry Mom & Dad, we didn't take him home. |
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| Oh, but he was SO sweet and gentle! I loved him! I wish I had known he was on the property somewhere. I would have snuggled with him a lot more. I only had two minutes before the bus took us back to Moscow. A fantastic way to end off our trip to the country. |
