Sudislavl

Судисла́вль

On continuing my tour of Kostroma oblast I was invited to visit Судисла́вль  / Sudislavl with Pavel and his family.
We spent the day at Cendega, which is a holiday,fishing, hunting complex not far from Sudislavl. Having been eaten alive by mosquitos even with a total covering of spray, The only fish I saw, was a smoked fish provided for the soup. We had however a wonderful BBQ and fun playing volleyball and spending a lot of time watching the wildlife. The BBQ was definetly the best place to be away for the mosquitos!

 

A smoked fish provided by the fishing camp.

 The wildlife was magnificent and many buzzards were hovering along with snipe and beautiful butterflies, a real treat for a nature lover like myself. The fishing was not important after the discovery of such raw and beautiful countryside.

 Fields laden with wild Lupin were a wonder to behold, the colours are superb.
Судисла́вль is a suprisingly large town, yet spread over a wide area among which lakes and churches seem to be placed with lots of space and parks including a Health camp where a group of children from Moscow were resting.
Pavel was born here so naturally we had local knowledge and found a guy searching for wild strawberries. Among stories of children drowning in the lake and complaints about everyday life in Russia and how it was when Americans and Brits used to visit the town for the Health farm, days seemed better then, it was clearer.

Sweet as a nut!  I found a few wild strawberries myself, reminding me of my forraging back home in Yorkshire, Is there anything better than free, natural food? I doubt it!

 The day we went to Судисла́вль was June 12th. or Russia day.This is a national holiday which celebtrates the dissolution of the USSR and is treat only as a day off by Russians, I was expecting something more like the celebrations on 9th May or Victory day, but it was certainly nothing like what I expoerienced on that day in Kostroma. In fact, after meeting the local who was collecting wild strawberries, he seemed to be unhappy in the way in which older people are being treat in modern Rusia and it is certainly true to say that many Russians of my generation feel bitter about their experiences in contemporary Russia as opposed to that during life in the USSR.

Life is tough, there is no doubt if you are not among the few affluent Russians that are certainly far richer than the poorer teachers and ordinary folk .