Hi, I am Elena Shusharina, and as part of the Kudabilin project, Kazan became my city for travel. I began to prepare for the trip in advance: on social networks I asked to advise interesting places, revised all the video guides and read a million articles about the history of this city.
Even before the start of the trip, I felt the goodwill and warmth of local residents. Many guys from Kazan wrote to me, they wished me a successful trip and recommended interesting locations.
The journey began with a colorful dawn in the porthole and continued with heavy snowfall on the runway at Kazan Airport. On the way to the hotel, I watched from the window of the car behind colorful villages and snowy fir trees. A real Russian winter was felt in the suburbs!
Having settled down in the hotel, I took a guide to the city at the reception and headed for the Kremlin. Snow in Kazan, surprisingly, is very clean. And in combination with white walls, he literally blinded me. Because of the snowfall in the Kremlin, there were only a few people, so I managed to calmly walk to the famous Kul-Sharif Mosque and take a photo as a keepsake. The facade of the building is lined with marble and granite, and the dome is painted in sky blue. The mosque has as many as five floors, on which the prayer for men and women, observation sites and the Islam Museum are located. There is also a library and publisher in Kul-Sharif. To be honest, this is one of the most beautiful and majestic mosques that I saw. And on the territory of the Kremlin it was unusually calm and pacifying.
Snowfall intensified, on the street gradually began to darken, so I headed to the Breadly cafe, which the locals recommended on the eve. The evening ended with a calm walk near the Kremlin embankment – a very beautiful view of the city opens from it!
The second day in Kazan began with breakfast with a traditional Tatar dessert – Baursak. These are donuts from fresh or yeast dough. They are fried in a large cauldron and are served, as a rule, to a shurpe or tea. First of all, after breakfast, I headed for the Palace of farmers. In this monumental construction, the office of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food is now located. Nearby I met a local resident who said that this building began to be built recently, in 2008, but now it can definitely be called one of the most popular attractions of the city.
The palace is really very beautiful! He looks fabulous due to the “openwork” dome with a spiral grill, air columns and a majestic bronze tree inside the arch. And the building is organically combined with other buildings in the historical center of Kazan.
From the square near the Palace of farmers, I reached the main pedestrian artery of Kazan – Bauman’s Street. This place resembles Arbat in Moscow. Here you can find cafes, restaurants and souvenir shops for every taste, as well as temples, monasteries and monuments. On the street, I talked with a girl who advised me to go to Skuratov Coffee for coffee, take a picture near the house of the press and look at the bell tower of the Epiphany Cathedral. She also said that in fact Bauman Street is the same age as the Kazan Kremlin, so the place is really cult!
I completed my day in the restaurant of local cuisine. Finally I tried the real Tatar Chuck-CHAK! And Tokmach is also a lap man prepared on various broths.
The third day I completely devoted a measured walk around the historical center of the city. I admired the local architecture and scrolled in my head all the most pleasant memories of the trip!
Honestly, I had no big expectations from the trip, but two days later I fell in love with this wonderful place. It turned out that Kazan is a very modern city. It has everything for a rich life. There is a great concentration of interesting events, many creative people, beautiful public spaces, cozy coffee houses – and all this in combination with the colorful culture of Tatarstan!
