A train out of Moscow

We took a train out of Moscow today to a place called Sergiyev Posad. This is a large monastery about 50 km away from Moscow. We went from the train station Loroslavskaya. We paid peanuts for two tickets just 550 rubles, (12.00 GBP) junior went free. The train certainty was not an  express or a luxury experience, it took one hour and twenty minutes and we chugged along at a snails pace to get there but we were not in a hurry. The train made worrying loud banging noises of metal on metal and the carriages were full of people. I sat opposite an old woman who drank milk from a plastic bottle while she chewed on a large lump of bread. She did not have many teeth so the milk must have helped her to swallow the bread.  The interior of the train smelt of stale pee. On the way back home, I needed a pee and looked for a toilet but could not find one. Toilets are not included in the ticket price. Desperate to pee, I did like many others. I walked down to an empty part of the train and went through one of the interconnecting carriage doors, shut it behind me and peed out through the gap between the carriages. When an emergency calls you have to go.

When you arrive at the train station at Sergiyev Posad you have to walk past scruffy looking kiosks, down a long boulevard and then walk down the road and up to the monastery. I saw many strange and scruffy men in track suites standing about drinking beer from a can or bottle. One man that I saw started to aggressively shout at me, so I looked past him as if looking at something else and prayed to be invisible, it worked and he moved on.

At the monastery, It was free to go into the church area and it was very busy with many people, since today is a Russian holiday. A long line of people stretched around the path from the entrance of the main golden domed church inside the monastery so we did not go in, I could not be bothered to wait. People queued at a water fountain to fill plastic bottles up with water. I don't know if they were collecting it because it was pure spring water or if it was holy water from Jesus? I did not ask or collect any but I dipped my finger into the water and put some on junior for good luck as he has had bronchitis for the last five months. All around, women of all ages wore scarves on their heads and men in long black robes doing gods work, rushed about in different directions as we walked around the church gardens.

I have visited a lot of churches since coming to Russia and to be honest I don't care if I don't see anymore as when you have seen one you have seen them all. However, I do like churches here that are peaceful and non touristic. I like them when they are empty and smelling of candles. I feel very peaceful, calm and safe inside, I think I could become religious, if I were to see or hear some divine intervention from upstairs. I am still waiting for this divine intervention and am open to persuasion.

I would recommend a visit to this monastery if you like monasteries. The train is cheap and probably a lot faster than going by car. A journey by train here to Sergiyev Posad takes over an hour, by car it could take several hours through the heavy Moscow traffic. Why stress yourself out, if you don't mind pee smells and are not in any hurry, take it slowly and make a day trip out of Moscow. The monastery is worth seeing.