Onboard Diary

If you ever go to Russia... Russia's 7 Wonders

Some time ago, thanks to Microsiervos, we discovered this graceful article brewed in the English Russia site: Russia's 7 Wonders. The idea came up from a Russian group of television channels, newspapers and Russian radio stations and everybody was invited to take part in it via the Internet or text messages.

So, now you know... If the possibility of visiting that land ever arises, keep these places really in mind:

 Lake Baikal (Озеро Байкал)

This lake -of tectonic origin- is situated in Eastern Siberia. Its name derives from the Tartar term 'Bai-Kul', rich lake. It's also well known as 'The Blue Eye of Siberia' and 'The Pearl o Asia', due to the quality of its water, which was the best in the planet but it's now losing its status because of pollution.

Valley of the Geysers

The landmark is located in the Kamchatka peninsula (Has any of you ever tried its famous king crabs?) and it's comprised by thousands of active geysers. Similarly to Lake Baikal, this landmark has been declared a UNESCO World's Heritage place.

Mother Motherland Monument

Also known as The Motherland Calls (Родина-мать зовёт!)  is a monumental statue built on the Mamáyev Kurgan hill in Volgograd (the old Stalingrad) in commemoration of the battle during the Second World War. With a height of 85 metres, the statue is formed by 5,500 tones of concrete and 2,400 tones of metal. At the time of its inauguration, on October the 15th 1967, it was the highest statue in the world.

Peterhof (Петерго́ф)

It's a city inside the Petrodvortsovy district of the federal city of Saint Petersburg, on the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland. It has a 64,791 population and it's house to one of the two campuses of Saint Petersburg State University. There, you can find a series of palaces and gardens created on the orders of Peter the Great, which have resulted in the place being dubbed 'the Russian Versailles'.

The Komi Republic (Респу́блика Ко́ми)

Although it's been estimated that it might have happened 200 million years ago, the exact date of origin of the famous 'stone poles' is unknown. What the scientific community do agree on is that its formation was only possible due to natural origins (they know an awful lot about this in Cuenca too...). Some of this formations can reach the height of 42 metres.

Mount Elbrus (Эльбрус)

Russia's most famous mountain is located in the western region of the Caucasian mountain range, near the Georgian border. It's the highest mountain of the aforementioned range, which is considered, together with the Ural Mountains, the frontier between Europe and Asia. This being an artificial border, the north part of the Caucasus is considered to be European, while the south part is considered Asian. Therefore, with a height of 5,642 metres, mount Elbrus can be cosidered the highest mountain in Europe, since it's located in the north part.

Saint Basil's Cathedral (Собор Покрова что на Рву)

Well, this one doesn't actually need an introduction... Not to be confused with the Московский Кремль!