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The time when summer heat is over but drizzles and winter cold are still far away are just perfect for lazy visits to places around Moscow. Banks of reservoirs, overcrowded and smelling of endless shishkebob stands in summer, now are clear, empty, and decorated with autumn colors of leaves.
Most interesting and spectacular places are located north of Moscow. For example, famous Golden Ring of Russia all sits up there. But that's a well-known tourist attraction, while the most interesting discoveries are waiting off the beaten paths and roads. If you drive through well-known Sergiev Posad and keep going northwest, in a few hours you'll arrive to Uglich, an old Russian city on the banks of Volga river. The city itself is not very spectacular, most of its architectural treasures were destroyed after the revolution when a big reservoir covered most of the ancient city area with Volga waters. The bell-tower in the middle of still waters reminds of the days and places that are gone forever.
Before leaving Uglich for the hidden treasures of Myshkin, you may want to visit the place recently opened but already attracting lots of young students from almost all Russia. It's a museum of folklore and tales - and here you will see all these starnage characters: from living corpses to mermaids and fortune-tellers...
Myshkin is worth all the hours and troubles of getting there (by the way, it has its own website with an English page, if you are interested). One of the smallest Russian towns, with population of only a few thousand, the place lives its quiet and traditional life - and makes its lifestyle open and visible to a visitor. Simple walk through its streets tells more about Russian history than some other museums - but at the same time Myshkin offers unique museums you will find nowhere else.
The most popular is the Museum of Mouse (the name of Myshkin is derived from a Russian word mysh that means mouse). Hundreds of man-made mice from around the planet do look impressive… But the real jewel is the local historical museum where enthusiasts have collected items of different centuries, decades and walks of life. Old firemen's gear and hand-made glass, pottery and weapons, clothes and toys… Every single thing show how much people of Myshkin love their land and their history.
And, finally, you will enjoy the museum of valenok, a unique Russian winter footwear made of heavy felt-like substance produced from sheep wool. It's very practical - but in the museum a visitor will see that valenok may be the not just a utility, but a piece of art - if creative mind and hands are applied. All of sudden a trivial valenok becomes a fashionable purse, or a statue, or a toy, or a wall decoration.
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