Lately I’ve been feeling particularly drawn to water for some reason. Maybe it’s the anticipation for the fountains to be turned on come May 1st, or how excited I am to see the canals of St. Petersburg (we are leaving for Piter on a late-night train tonight!). Whatever it is, I felt it strongly while we were in the medieval cities of Vladimir and Suzdal on a trip this last weekend.

The two rivers that I found so interesting were the Kamenka (in Suzdal) and the Nerl (in Vladimir). I found out through some google-mapping that the Kamenka actually flows into the Nerl. According to the tour-guide that we had, the waters flow south and into the Volga, which eventually lets out into the Caspian Sea.
My favorite place that we visited in Vladimir was the Church of the Intercession, a tiny structure that sits on the Nerl river surrounded by wide-open fields. We went to see this church early in the morning, and the fields still were covered in dew. The church is made of white stone, and its thick walls extend deep underground in order to keep it from getting washed away by the waters, which are usually much higher than they are this year.

I thought that the reflections of the church and the small trees that surround it were particularly beautiful.