Excursion to Elez

The excursion started on Thursday with a two-hour bus ride, for which we and our exchange partners were supposed to meet at the school at 07:50 am. The first destination was the Russian Orthodox "Resurrection Cathedral". The construction of the cathedral began in 1844 and it took about 50 more years to complete the impressive building. The four golden domes, representing the four evangelists, were already very eye-catching from the outside. The interior of the cathedral was just as beautiful as the one we had visited before. On the way back to the bus, we made short stops at some monuments, which were explained in more detail by our guide after taking a group photo. After a second, shorter bus ride, we had the opportunity to visit a museum dedicated to the Russian writer Ivan Bunin. It was located in a house where the Nobel laureate himself lived for three years. The tour of the museum included interesting points about the household items of that time, as well as the personal belongings of the writer and additional explanations about them. After completing the exhibition with our guide, we took another bus ride to a Lenin monument, where we first took another group photo. There were several small shops and cafes near the monument. First, we all entered a small souvenir shop, which also offered a wide range of lace pieces. The city itself is known for these lace works, which were the result of elaborate handwork that almost every woman mastered in the past. Then, in small groups, we had some time to explore before meeting again at the monument at 1:50 pm to continue the tour. The next bus ride took us to a Russian monastery, which was originally built in the 16th century. It had to be rebuilt several times and was also closed during the Soviet era, but reopened in 2004. Before we could enter the monastery grounds, the girls had to cover their hair again and also tie on long skirts this time. During our last tour of the day, we passed by many bird aviaries with peacocks and a monument dedicated to a former nun. Our guide shared some interesting information about the latter. Another group photo was taken before the bus ride back home, marking the last activity of the excursion. Finally, the excursion ended around 5:00 pm when we arrived back at the school.

Amy Andrae