The Journey

After having my ticket scanned by the guard, I stumbled into the Kazan-bound train from Moscow's station. Seeing as the time was just before midnight, my first priority was to find the bed I had been assigned. Shortly, I came upon it. A small, tucked away fold-out, close to the ground and right next to the bathroom door. But since I specifically made sure to purchase the cheapest ticket available, I can't really complain. Quickly, I laid down my things as the train began to pull out of the station.

Now, maybe it was the excitement of the trip, maybe it was the constant shaking of the train, or maybe it was the guy with digestive issues that kept walking by to use the bathroom every 20 minutes, but whatever the reason, I was only able to get about one cumulative hour of sleep. Nonetheless, when we finally arrived at 1:00 in the afternoon the following day. I roused my delirious self up to the door, and ventured out to the capital of Tatarstan and Russia's third most prominent city (behind Moscow and Petersburg).

Yet, despite my desire to explore, my body seemed to be thinking otherwise. I was stricken by a terrible headache and, despite it being fairly warm outside, I had a bad case of the chills. This made me a little nervous. Could I be getting sick on the very first day of the trip? Maybe I was just overtired from the lack of sleep. Either way, I made my way to the hostel I booked, stopping here and there to take a few pictures. Once I checked, however, a thought came to me. It had been well over 24 hours since I had any coffee. So, before unpacking my bag, I quickly made a cup for myself and. to my relief, felt instantly better. Turns out the sickness was just the effects of a caffeine detox.

I then decided I'd make the most of my first day and head to Kazan's Kremlin (Казанский Кремль). That is where I'll stop the mini story and switch to the pictures. Please enjoy.

Mosque within Kazan's Kremlin. One of the biggest in all of Europe.