The imperial estate of Kolomenskoye extends several acres along the Moscow River to the southeast of the city center; a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the wooden tent-roofed church dates back to the 16th century.

With that i completed Orange guide to Moscow, which i can’t recommend highly enough – it’s written by a born Muscovite and an accomplished writer, Olga Klimentova and for what i know is really the optimal travel book on the city (i am not sure whether it’s available in English though.)

I am writing this at the warmth of my Montenegrin home, i arrived last night from Moscow and am still acclimatizing; there is some 30 Celsius / 86 Fahrenheit  of difference between the two and to me the change is not easy at all – eventually in couple of days i’ll get used to it.

I took the tube to Kolomenskoye last Friday to meet with a Tarot dealer (that’s a story  unto itself ; )) and then walked to the estate in the freezing cold. After an hour or so in the crowded underground, walking through the estate’s gates to the top of the hill and to the Church of Ascension, gazing from there down at the Moscow river did feel  like being catapulted to an all another dimension. The only person i met on the way was the girl in national costume – there was nobody else around, the snow was literally glittering and the ringing of the bells was breaking through the silence… An amazing experience, well worth the freezing!