Republic of Tatarstan

Day 2 we headed down to the Volga river. It is as much as 6 Kms wide in certain areas. Tatarstan is a Republic of Russia and has the biggest Islamic region in Russia. It has its own language called Tatar. The area is 30% Russian and 70% Islamic. Andrei has a good friend living in the capital of Tatar - it is called Kazan. We paid him a planned visit. Irek treated us to a sumptous lunch and together with his son Shamil who speaks excellent english to us for a grand tour of the city.
Kazan is Russia's third city - After Moscow and St.-Petersburg. We were shown the University of Kazan. It is the same University that Lenin studied as well as Leo Tolstoy. Irek then organized a tour of the Kremlin in Kazan. Up to this time I thought the Kremlin was a part of the Russian establishment in Moscow. But apparently it is the Palace of the state. It was re-opened in 2005 after a huge make over and is now a Unesco World Heritage site. It has a fantastic mosque, which we were able to enter into ans see some of the parts. The marble from Egypt, the crystal from the Czech republic, the carpets from Iran etc. etc. The mosque is the second largest in Russia the largest being in Chechnya. Not far from the mosque is the Russian Orthodox church. Also recently rebuilt and we were taken inside again by our tour guide.
Both Christians and Muslims have simple rules that they obey and live in harmony. The mosque does not broadcast its prayers on loud speakers as it will interfere with the service in the church. The church does not peel its famous bells anymore as it will interfere with the mosque. Little but effective rules. There is plenty of history in the this city. For anyone doing the Trans-Siberian by train this should be a stop over for a day or two.
Interesting fact for all those football fans out there, Rubin Kazan the big clubside in Kazan is the most eastern team to ever play in the UEFA Champions League.
We were shown the palaces and other admin buildings in this great city with a lot of history, our man Ivan the Terrible has been a little naughty boy around these parts destroying and taking over these parts into his Russian Federation..
Irek had offered us to stay the night and we took up his kind offer. They are very hospitable folk. We declined to have dinner when asked what we wanted. However he did not stop at that. We had a wonderful sauna organized in his home, with Kazan food of salt fish (uncooked), dry calamari and fresh fruit. Of course bottles of beer to re-hydrate us. We had a wonderful time in his basement for a few hours this evening and it was great. Tomorrow morning we hope to leave early and head off again. For the next week or so, we expect to be on flat roads so we intend to push ahead. After that the terrain is rough and it is mountainous.