Central Asian Trip

     For the first stop in my Central Asian trip, I visited the country of China.  I stopped at many beautiful historic sites and landmarks, as well as a few modern areas.  For my first stop, I decided to visit the Great Wall of China, walking a few miles along the top of the wall.  Although it did not prevent attack on China, it was very interesting to see the extensive reaches of the wall, even areas built parallel to other sections of the wall.  I moved on to the Forbidden City, a complex containing 980 buildings, including the imperial palace that was used for almost five hundred years by different dynasties.  It contains more preserved wood built structures than anywhere in the world, and was amazing to walk through!  My next stop was to view the incredibly detailed Terracotta Army, leaving

me in awe.  The over 8,000 soldiers and other military assets were all unique, each one a life sized stone sculpture.  I visited each of the four pits, viewing as many of the intricately detailed soldiers as I could.  I also spent some time at the Oriental Pearl Tower, a radio and tv tower with a unique structure.  It is a tower with two main spheres at its base and top, with fifteen different viewing decks within it.  I ventured upwards into the Space Module, the highest viewing deck in the tower.  My love of sculpture and architecture also pulled me towards the Leshan Giant Buddha, a 233 foot tall Buddha sculpture.  I was also interested in the history behind it, as when the sculpture's funding was threatened, the lead constructor is said to have gouged out his own eyes to prove his sincerity for the sculpture!  I loved visiting these ancient sites.
     For the second location of my trip, I traveled to the country of Azerbaijan, a country that despite not knowing much about it, supplied me with many amazing activities.  In this country, my interest in architecture and museums won out, taking me to many different works of art and creation.  I visited the Maiden Tower of Baku, a tower built in the twelfth century as part of the walled city.  I explored the museum of Baku's history inside the tower after viewing the city from the roof of the tower.  I continued onto the Azerbaijan Carpet Museum, a museum with the largest collection of Azerbaijani carpets in the world.  It was interesting to see the advancement of techniques and materials used to

create carpets throughout history.  One of the most interesting parts of the museum, however, was the fact the building was shaped like a large carpet was curled on top!  To indulge my modern interest in architecture, I visited the Heydar Aliyev Center, a building completed in 2012 that took five years to complete.  Within the curved structure lies an auditorium, gallery hall, and museum.  For my last museum trip, I went to the National Art Museum of Azerbaijan, a museum with an extensive collection of over 15,000 artworks, 3,000 of which art exhibited in the 60 room museum.  I ended my night by walking through the peaceful Fountains Square, a public square with dozens of fountains within it.  My Central Asian Trip was outstanding!

Russian Trip

     As Russia is such a large country, my trip to the country was filled with different activities all across the country, starting in the west, and moving eastwards.  I started by visiting the Hermitage Museum, a six building complex of houses that used to belong to Tsars.  Five of the buildings are open to the public, displaying some of their over three million items, including the largest collection of paintings in the world!  While I was in Saint Petersburg, I made sure to visit the Bronze Horseman, a statue of Peter the Great riding a horse atop a large rock formation.  This rock was called the Thunder Stone, and was reportedly carved from 1500 pounds down to 1250 for transport.  It was amazing the work put into a sculpture now seen as symbolic of Saint Petersburg.  I traveled South to Moscow to explore some more iconic structures.  I walked through the beautiful Red Square, a plaza

separating the Kremlin, a historic citadel and current house to the Russian president, from a merchant quarter called Kitai-gorod.  It was incredible to see the city that largely revolved around the square, as many of the streets originate at the square.  I discovered that the name Red Square actually comes from a word in Russian that means both beautiful and red.  Adjacent to the square was the magnificent Saint Basik's Cathedral, a vibrant mass of churches in one building.  It was a museum when I visited, but historically it was actually used for worship, with eight churches built around one central church.  Later on, a tenth was added over the grave of Saint Basil.  It was a beautiful location to visit.  To end my day in the capital, I visited the Moscow Zoo, an ever expanding exhibition with over 8,000 animals currently.  I walked through the arch formed by a rock castle and entered the zoo, crossing the footbridge spanning the gap between older and newer sections of  the zoo.  I loved the waterfalls and streams placed around the park!  I turned in for the night to prepare for traveling eastward.
     To end my trip, I embarked halfway across the country on the longest railroad in the road, spanning the distance from Moscow to Vladivostok, the Trans-Siberian Railway.  I stopped at Lake

Baikal, the deepest and oldest lake in the world.  It actually contains about twenty percent of the world's fresh water!  I stayed the night in a resort on the lake to conclude my trip.