Tula Trip — Russia 2010 - Day 16 (Sunday)

When you are married to someone from another culture, hopefully you take interest in learning more about the customs, traditions, holidays, religion and other important aspects of what has molded the love of your life. Ever since I married Olga, I have learned more about the “hot” tea aspects that many southerners are not as accustomed to on a daily basis. In historical times in Russia,

and still in some places today, hot water was stored in a “Samovar” and often the steeped tea might be sitting on top in a tiny kettle. The samovar was typically heated with hot coals in a cylinder in the middle, but most of them today are heated with electric coils.

Around five years ago I decided to look for a nice samovar on e-Bay to display on our antique sideboard in the dining room as this would make an attractive addition and also honor Olga’s heritage. Eventually I was able to outbid someone on a real nice one that is from the 1800s and made in a city in Russia named Tula (where most samovars are from). Since that time, I have wanted to visit Tula, just to see where they come from.

Yesterday, one of Olga’s friends that lives here in Moscow, Igor, took me to Tula so we could visit several sites. Tula is approximately 120 miles south of Moscow. Two of Igor’s

friends came along, Svetlana and Tatiana, so they could take in the sites too. After having lunch (I had Russian dumplings in sour cream and you will see on Igor’s plate, he had beef tongue), we began visiting some of Tula’s attractions.

I am separating some of the sites we visited into different slideshows in case you have an interest in specific venues in Tula.

The slideshows in the next four Blog entries will include:

• the estate of Leo Tolstoy, known as “Yasnaya Polyana”,
• a visit to the Samovar Museum,
• the Tula State Museum of Weapons, and
• the Tula Kremlin wall and Tulsky Pryanik

I really appreciate Igor’s hospitality in making this a very informative and fun “excursion.”