Zhang Feng slept very soundly this night, even though there was always the sound of opening and closing the door outside the door.

At around five o'clock, Zhang Feng's alarm clock began to work.

The hotel is a 20-minute walk to the Moscow railway station, and Zhang Feng found the ticket hall under the guidance of passers-by. First, he tried to complete the payment at the automatic ticket machine, and then the volunteer brother on the side told Zhang Feng that the departure time of the rainy train was very close and he could only buy it at the manual ticket window on the side. Fortunately, there are not many people. When Zhang Feng arrived, Zhang Feng told the friendly ticket seller sister the train information, and she also took out the calendar to confirm the train date with Zhang Feng, and then issued the ticket smoothly.

All in all, it was like a war early in the morning, but in the end, when the high-speed train to Veliky Novgorod started, Zhang Feng was already sitting by the window of the rainy car.

Novgorod |

There were not many people on the train, less than three hours, Zhang Feng took a short rest, and the train stopped at the Veliky Novgorod railway station.

What caught his eye was an old train station, just like this city, which made Zhang Feng smile on his face.

The city is a special presence for Russia. It is a proud city because it is the birthplace of Russia.

In 862 AD, Grand Duke Rurik announced the beginning of what is now the Russian state, which continued to rule Russia for more than 750 years. It was the first permanent settlement of the Varyag Norwegians, who founded the early Russian state. By the 12th century, it was the largest city in Russia. Sturdy and austere church buildings, iconostasis paintings and epic ballads will make up the city's unique style.

Novgorod escaped the iron hooves of the Mongols - the Tatars fell into the swamps around the city, but in the hands of other Russians it suffered the greatest damage. Ivan III of Moscow attacked and annexed the city in 1477, and Ivan the Terrible's berserk army razed it to the ground and killed 60,000 Novgorod residents in a brutal massacre. Eventually, the establishment of St. Petersburg ended its status as a center of trade.

Zhang Feng's visit to the city began, of course, with Novgorod Castle. But he didn't want the weather on this day to be in addition to the word "bad", Zhang Feng didn't know how to describe it.

Navigate from the train station to the castle and it will take you 20 minutes to get there. But Zhang Feng felt that it was really not easy to move forward in the cold wind and rain.

After entering the castle gate, Zhang Feng saw the tomb of the uninhabited martyrs of World War II, and the everlasting fire was also burning in the rain.

The Russian Millennium Monument depicts 127 figures cast in heavy bronze, including rulers, politicians, artists, scholars, etc.

The castle has a church, a bell tower, and a museum that displays the history of the old city. Among them, Hagia Sophia is the most famous.

St. Sophia's Cathedral was built in 1045 on the model of Kyiv's Sophia Cathedral, and it is the oldest surviving building in Russia.

The interior of the church is dim and antique, with a sense of heaviness that is difficult to imagine from the outside. The walls are covered with watercolor frescoes, of which the dome of the patio in front of the altar is a 12th-century fresco. Facing the altar, on the right is the famous 12th-century iconostasis, Our Lady of Prayer. To the right of the altar hangs a "limestone cross", made in honor of the victory in the war in Kulikovo. Hagia Sophia was used as a burial place for successive grand dukes and nobles, and the southwestern part of the church is the burial place of Grand Duke Vladimir and his mother Anna, who built it. The outer wall on the west side is engraved with the biblical story "Bronze Gate", which is said to have been moved from the fortress of Sigtuna in Sweden in 1187. On the east side is the bell tower, built in 1437, which displays a large bell that was discarded.

However, it is forbidden to take pictures in the church, and Zhang Feng can only try to remember the places that make his heart move.

After buying the ticket, Zhang Feng went up to the castle wall and the observation deck of the bell tower, but after Zhang Feng went up, he found that the perspective was really average. The Volkhov River passes through Veliky Novgorod in the rain, and the hazy light and shadow are mixed with the colors of the light yellowish vegetation.

On the east bank of the Volkhov River, there are many simple churches left over from the Middle Ages, most of them are simple and small, and they are not impressive, but Zhang Feng has the illusion of being in the Middle Ages as he walks around these onion-headed buildings in the rain.

In addition to the castle in the middle of the city, Veliky Novgorod is worth visiting St. George's Monastery and the nearby Wooden Museum. Before going, Zhang Feng came to the post office with the help of navigation and chose a few favorite postcards. A sister at the post office spoke English very well and talked to Zhang Feng. She told Zhang Feng that although the city was not big and not as famous as St. Petersburg, it was a small and quiet city. Zhang Feng smiled at her and told her that he liked it here, but the weather today was really not cute. She also smiled at Zhang Feng as a sign of comfort.

With her help, Zhang Feng also learned that the only way to get to St. George's Monastery was by taxi, so Zhang Feng chose the bus at her suggestion.

Zhang Feng stood at the bus stop, behind him was a group of locals waiting for the bus like Zhang Feng. A slightly disheveled little brother kept smiling at Zhang Feng and began to talk in his broken English. After waiting for a while, the bus to St. George's Monastery was finally late. The little brother got into the car with Zhang Feng, and he finally sat down next to Zhang Feng.

Zhang Feng got off the bus at the destination and said goodbye to the little brother. In travel, the difference between traveling and passers-by is often forgotten in the rivers and lakes, but the touching and warmth at that time are treasured in memory.

St. George's Monastery is right behind the not-so-remarkable Lake Ilmen.

The adjacent Museum of Wooden Architecture, built on the banks of the Volkhov River, was founded in 1964 and consists of more than 20 wooden buildings from the 14th-19th centuries brought from all over the country.

After shopping, Zhang Feng found that the time was not early, so he hurried to the bus stop in front of the museum to wait for the bus back to the city, who knew that after waiting for 40 minutes, the bus finally picked up the anxious Zhang Feng.

I ate some hot food at McDonald's near the train station, and finally gave Zhang Feng, who was wet and cold, some warmth.

The train arrived at the Moscow railway station in St. Petersburg on time, and returned to the hotel, it should be said that in the hotel, Zhang Feng was already tired and fell asleep quickly.

Return to Petersburg |

Breakfast was served at the Pan Asia restaurant near the hotel. Pan-Asia is a very broad geographical concept, which encompasses a variety of Asian cuisines, including Japanese, Chinese, and Thai cuisines.

Zhang Feng ordered Kung Pao chicken and spring rolls, which were sweet. There are some Asian flavors, but Zhang Feng still thinks it's weird, some things, when they go abroad, really change their taste, because they don't have the opportunity to whip themselves, and it is generally difficult to find a person to taste.