As you walk from the station to the monastery in Sergiyev Posad, you cannot escape this souvenir alley on your route. It is quite long and it stretches right to the Trinity Sergius monastery walls.
President-faced matryoshkas, fur hats, Khokhloma utensils, balalaikas, pseudo military outfit — all the props you need to make your own bad Russian guys movie. But don’t be fooled by this – there are plenty of great items hand made by the local artists as well.
This fair is not only place to get a pair of wool gloves knitted by a babooshka or some exquisite terracotta by the Abramtsevo folk – it’s a place to collect voices from all over the world, accents and dialects, toys and crafts, real bells and hand bells. Let’s hear the tourists as they stroll along the stalls at this global cross-road. This is the edited recording.
Recorded October 30th, 2011 (MS-TFB-2)
Published November 5th, 2011.
