Central Asia

Today we are off to Central Asia. Our first stop will be at the Ayni Opera and Ballet Theatre.

Site one: The Ayni Opera and Ballet Theatre is the center of cultural life of the capital and the country`s leading musical theater. It was founded in 1940, when a dance group mainly performing folk dances in operas and drama plays was formed in Dushanbe. In 1941, at the theater was staged the first Tajik ballet, entitled "Du gul". Since 1954, a new generation of Tajik artists who received vocal and choreographic education in the best Moscow and Leningrad schools bought to the theatre the best ballet and vocal traditions, high culture of classical dance. Ballet troupe put on Soviet and world classics, and opera troupe performs works of Russian and Western classic operas, which are performed in Russian. Since that time, began an intensive work on the creation of new plays of various genres.
When we first got there we found out the time of a show we thought we would  enjoy. The architecture of the outside and inside of the building was amazing. When we got into the performance that we had gotten tickets for, it was packed in there. We were toward the back, but still had a great time. The show was great and we enjoyed it a lot.

Site Two: Next up, we headed to Gissar Fort in Hisor, Tajikistan. Hissar fortress is the ex residence of Bek, a deputy of Bukhara emir. The fortress walls were 1 meter thick and had gun slots for rifles and cannons. Inside of the fort was garden and water pool. Stairs and brick terraces were lead to the main entrance but unfortunately they were lost with time as well as the palace building. The only part that remains till our days is monumental gates built of burnt bricks with two cylinder towers and lancet arch between them.
When we got there we thought it kind of just looked like a rock with a tunnel through it, but we were absolutely wrong. We walked through and saw many wall carving and amazing sculptors. We found it very amazing. This was an awesome experience and I would go there again some day.

Russia

Today we are off to Russia! Our first stop in going to be in St. Petersburg.

Site one: Today we are in St. Petersburg, Russia and we are going to the Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood. The Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood is one of St Petersburg’s most impressive churches.Whilst this church is also known as the Church on Spilled Blood, its official name is the Church of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. In fact the construction of the Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood originally began in 1883 by Emperor Alexander III to commemorate his father, Alexander II. Alexander II was actually assassinated on the site where the church was built in 1881, thus lending the Russian Orthodox cathedral its alternative name referring to spilled blood.
When we first got to the Church of the Saviour we saw beautiful multicolored domes on the top and it was breath taking. We also saw walls that were beautifully decorated all by the hands of people.  We waited in line to get inside and when we did get in it was not what we were expecting. We were expecting all very old things and not expecting it to be very interesting, but we were taken by surprise and way wrong. We were very interested in all the artwork and the architecture that was in there. It was an amazing experience and we enjoyed every minute of it. 

Site two: Our next stop was in Volgograd, Russia. We are off to Mamayev Hill. Mamayev Hill or “Mamayev Kurgan” in Volgograd (formerly Stalingrad) in Russia is a memorial complex dedicated to the Battle of Stalingrad. This battle was considered to be a defining moment in World War II in which the Russians defeated German forces, turning the tide of the war and starting a chain of events which would lead to the downfall of the Axis powers.It was a vital stronghold during the battle. Today, Mamayev Hill is dominated by a dramatic 300-foot statue entitled “The Motherland Calls”. At the time of its creation, this dramatic depiction of a woman wielding a sword was the tallest statue in the world. Some news reports have now said that this statue is in danger of collapsing.
We got there and from our research that we did, we thought there would only be one really big sculpture, but when we got there we say many sculptures around the big one. We also saw a military cemetery housing the graves of over six-hundred soldiers. This was heartbreaking to see so many graves of men and women who fought for the freedom we have today. The Motherland Calls sculpture  was very cool to see. You cannot imagine how tall it is until you are actually standing up next to it. It was a great time.