Staraja Roessa

Travel Stories - Russia

introduction

Fortunately, a fairly large bus stops on platform 3 and everybody has got a fixed seat. Of course I'm sitting next to the window and the sun is shining very bright inside. It is exactly half past twelve when the bus is packed and departing. A woman is knitting on the other side of the aisle while we drive along the south side of the big Ilmen lake. We have not seen a mountain or a hill in Russia except low trees and a kind of scrub with marsh. Occasionally some wooden houses and we see a stray dog passing the street.

Here and there you can buy a apples sold in a basket by a babbooshka sitting on a wooden bench next to the road. In the asphalt are many potholes filled with water from the rain and crumbled asphalt. Lada's pass us. We arrive at the Saraya Russa bus station for a few hours and get our bags out of the hold. We give the bus ticket to the driver and he asks for a luggage ticket that we do not have.

We still have to pay him 40R in total for 2 bags. After asking around, we can put our bags in a room for 40R per bag. The woman writes on a piece of paper that we will be back here at 8:50 pm because she will leave at 21:00 sharp. Our connection-train is later that evening at 22:44.

Resurrection Church

We have a map of the city and decide to walk east to the center. The city of Saraja Roessa is mentioned for the first time in the year 1167 under the name Roesa even though it is probably already founded in the tenth century. From the 13th to the 19th century the city was a center of salt extraction and in the middle of the 16th century it was named Staraja Roesa.

In 1828 there was a spa that is still here. Suddenly we walk over a bridge over the Polist river on the west side. We see the War Museum (Northwest Front) where we might go later. We now walk eastwards back to the river to see the city's biggest attraction; the red-white Resurrection Church with its beautiful domes. We continue our walk along the banks that are full of trees and look a bit like an old paiting from centuries ago.

When we walk past the church with its bridge, the asphalt stops and cobblestones take over. At the edge of the path, a number of beautiful wooden brightly painted old houses are in desperate need of a makeover. Finally we walk towards the heavily renovated green house of the famous writer Dostoevsky. The writer stayed here from 1872 to 1875. His house is now a museum. We walk further, walk past the beautiful "George" church where some very almost aggressive beggars try to trick money from a number of Russians from the tourist bus.

Tourist terrace

We eat something at a sushi snack bar, decide not to go to the war museum because we assume that everything is in Russian but still have some hours available. We decide to find a nice place to drink something and walk through town. On the waterfront we find a kinda for us fancy terrace.

Once there it is already five o'clock and we order a local beer on tap. We laugh at the English name of the terrace; the wild cat especially because a small young kitten is running around. When we have ordered our third one, we are invited by the Russian couple who are pretty drunk already. At 20:00 we have to leave and pay our bill and say goodbye.

Unfortunately everything is closed and we can not eat anything anymore. At 10:15 pm the first people walk up the now darkened platform - it seems that the train arrives at the first platform. We ask around where wagon three will stop and people point out to the beginning of the platform which is in total darkness. It is half past nine when we see the train approaching and inside we are referred to the right place by the train master of our wagon. It is an open coupe and it takes a while before I can climb up my upperbed and try to sleep. After we wake up around half past four, the train arrives a little over four in Tver where we get off.

Staraja-Roessa-Trainstation-Train-Wagon-Russia

tips & advice (2016)

The bus and train station are situated side by side on the north side of the center. You can leave your bag at the bus station and there is a toilet (0,10R).

Staraja Roessa - Tver: there is a night train from S.R. to Tver (direction Moscow); this leaves at 22:44 and arrives at 04:04. Prices vary naturally per class; we had a third class sleeper for 1583R (open coupe).

On the green boulevard near the Resurruction Church, a covered terrace has been built with wooden decking, where you can eat something besides a drink. You can go to the toilet in a toilet in a building hidden away on the shore. You have a beautiful view of the church and the river. The terrace is called the Wild Cat. There is a menu).