The International Bell Festival day has arrived! The festival itself, though short, was intense, stressful and an incredible memory all at once. Our team had previously written up a speech about of the Lowell bells that we were to present between two ringings at the festival. Here is the text: Latvia Festival Presentation - The Lowell…
Day 14: Liepaja and a Rehearsal for the Festival
The last stretch of our Bell Ringing Tour is here! After breakfast at the hotel, we were whisked away to the St Nicholas Cathedral where tomorrow's bell ringing festival was to take place, right near the Baltic sea. We had a whole team of ringers in the van, all brought here by Father Roman. Over the course…
Day 13: Riga
Today was a relatively slow day as most of it was spent in transit. We were still in St. Petersburg and needed to get to Liepaja for the first annual International Bell Ringing Festival in Liepaja, Latvia, starting the next day. We had a few spare hours in St. Petersburg in the morning, which Peter,…
Day 12: Bell Ringing in Pechory
Hi there folks! We're sorry for the delay on getting posts the final couple of days out: what a whirlwind this has all been! But be sure you don't miss out on these last updates: the last days were among the most unique and awe inspiring of the trip! So on day 11 we had…
Day 11: Saint Petersburg to Pechory
After Matty and Jessica left for the airport in the morning, it was time for Alex, Jeffery, and I to head to Pechory. At the time, here is what I knew about Pechory: it is a five-hour drive from Saint Petersburg; Father Roman was not with us; and we would be relying on a taxi…
Day 10: Arrival in St. Petersburg!
Greetings from Pulkovo airport in St. Petersburg! Matty and I are flying back to the states today. (Today is technically Day 11, but the following is a recap of yesterday, Day 10.) We began Day 10 with only five bell ringers since Aaron left us to return to America. We briefly stopped at the Tikhvin…
Day 9: Rostov and a Long Drive
Hello! We've been on a long road trip today. Arrived at 1:15am at our hotel, so this entry is only a sketch for the moment. We travelled from Rostov to Tikhvin today: check out the map! (it includes the leg from yesterday and tomorrow as well) In the morning we had a breakfast and visit…
Day 8: Vladimir, Suzdal, Arrival to Rostov
Today marked our departure from the Danilov Monastery and Moscow to the city of Vladimir, located about three hours to the east. In the city center, we visited the Assumption Cathedral, one of the most ancient cathedrals in Russia dating to the 12th century. The interior features golden decorations, icons, and frescoes. As the frescoes…
Day 7: Kolomenskoye Estate and Our Last Day in Moscow
Hi y’all! Today was our last day in Moscow, and as usual, it’s been pretty awesome. Our day began with a visit to Kolomenskoye. Kolomenskoye was a former royal estate that was inhabited by Russian dukes beginning in the 14th century and later the residence of Russian tsars. We saw some interesting architecture, including the…
Day 6: The Litex Bell Foundry and SPA DAY
Greetings from our last day in Moscow! Will be moving westward bright and early tomorrow, onto to Rostov, Tikhvin, and then St. Petersburg. Either way, we had a nice trip yesterday to the Litex foundry outside of Moscow, where we get to observe real Russian bells being manufactured! After a fairly long drive, we arrived…
The Lowell Bell Ringers in Russia 