Russia through the eyes of a traveler

Russia is a unique country in all respects, which fascinates foreigners and never ceases to amaze the indigenous people. Its vast expanses conceal so many interesting and sometimes incomprehensible things.

Interesting geography

• Russia is the largest country in the world, it covers an eighth of the land area. Its area is 17 million^km2, which is comparable to the area of Pluto.
• Russia is the only state washed by the waters of 12 seas.
• Lake Ladoga is the largest lake in Europe. The area of its basin is 17.6^km2, and the greatest depth is 230 m. 
• Lake Baikal is the deepest lake in the world. Its maximum depth is 1,642 m. The lake contains 19 % of the planet’s total fresh water reserves. And the total volume of water resources of Lake Baikal is more than 23 million km3.
• One of the most famous Russian ski resorts, Dombay, is famous for its scenic routes, the total length of which is 20 thousand km.
• Mount Elbrus, whose maximum height reaches 5642 m, is the highest point in Russia and Europe.
• The region of the Caucasian Mineral Waters is rich in unique chemical composition of thermal springs and mineral waters. 
• The Ural Mountains, which divide the territory of Russia into European and Asian, are the oldest preserved mountains in the world.
• The Trans-Siberian Railway crosses 8 time zones, starting in Moscow and ending in Beijing. The total length of the route is more than 9 thousand km.

By city and region

• Moscow is the capital of the Russian Federation, one of the most beautiful, large and expensive cities in the world. The first mention of Moscow dates back to 1147. The oldest church in the city is the Assumption Cathedral, built in the 70s of the 15th century. The oldest clock in Moscow and Russia is the famous Kremlin chimes on Red Square, installed in the 15th-16th centuries..
• St. Petersburg, often referred to as the” Venice of the North”, was the capital of the Russian Empire for 206 years. The city has about 350 bridges, and its territory is 10 % covered with water. The Admiralteiskaya metro station, located at a depth of 102 m, is one of the deepest in the world. St. Petersburg is often called the capital of trams — the total length of tram tracks exceeds 600 km.
• The cities included in the famous “Golden Ring” of Russia are a real encyclopedia of ancient Russian architecture, history and culture. Many of them are included in the UNESCO World Heritage Fund.
• Kaliningrad is the largest western city in Russia. Since ancient times, this land is famous for its rich reserves of amber. The largest of the found nuggets weighs 4.3 kg. In addition to amber, valuable treasures and antiques are regularly found in Kaliningrad. In this regard, the city has created a museum of found things.
• Anadyr is the easternmost city in Russia. The total area of Anadyr is 20^km2, and the population is just over 14 thousand people. The main airport of the city “Ugolny” is located in the permafrost zone.  

Russian cuisine: the customs of the ancient distant  

• A distinctive feature of Russian cuisine is the ability to adopt the dishes of other nations and creatively transform them. Therefore, Russian cuisine is one of the most diverse and colorful.
• Cold and hot appetizers invariably opened any meal, whether it was a modest family feast or a luxurious royal feast. Sauerkraut, salted, pickled cabbage and other homemade preparations, baked potatoes, soaked apples and pears, mushrooms in a variety of variations — even today our menu is not complete without all this.
• A special place in Russian cuisine is occupied by soups, called in the old days chowder. This is not only rich soup, borscht, solyanka, pickles and fish soup, but also cold soups, such as okroshka and botvinya.
• Porridge is another essential dish of Russian cuisine. Previously, they were prepared in a Russian oven with the addition of milk, sugar and pumpkin. To this day, the most popular are buckwheat, oatmeal, semolina, pearl barley and wheat porridge.
• Meat and poultry were present on the tables on weekdays and holidays, with the exception of the time of church fasts. As a rule, the meat was cooked as a whole piece in soup or porridge, and then served as an independent dish. The crown dish was considered to be a whole baked pig or goose. Special love was enjoyed by jellies and jellies.
• Fish was most often served in the form of thick soups. And for special occasions, it was baked whole, stuffed with vegetables and mushrooms. The fish favorites were carp, perch, viziga and, of course, the royal sturgeon.
• No feast was complete without mind-blowing homemade pastries. The scope and richness of the choice was amazing: mountains of golden pancakes, multi-layered kurniki and kulebyaki, pies with fillings for every taste, not to mention all kinds of pies, juicy cakes, rolls, bagels, cheesecakes and rolls.
• The main Russian drink was and still is kvass, which was prepared on rye breadcrumbs with the addition of yeast, honey and spices. Compotes, jelly and sbitni are not inferior to it in popularity.

A trip to any corner of Russia is always a small adventure that will bring a lot of unexpected discoveries and vivid impressions. And at the same time will allow you to touch the amazing and unsolvable puzzles.   

The material was prepared in conjunction with the site ru.torussia.org