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...is the word for cemetery in Russian. It would have been  helpful to know when Aleks and I decided to look for the particular cemetery where Dostoevsky was buried, as we got a little lost, but did not know the word for "cemetery".
       So on Tuesday we decided that we wanted to go on our own little excursion and we had both heard of a small cemetery attached to a monastery off of the green line. We decided to check it out and the one little excursion ended up spanning two days. So on the first day, we got there and wandered a bit, only to find that the cemetery with the famous people closes at 5, and we had arrived a little after then. Wanting to make the most of our journey, we wandered around the smaller cemetery, which ended up being beautiful. We wandered around and then found a church, which was the highlight of my day. We  had to cover our heads (luckily we both had scarves on) but we got to see one of the most beautiful churches I have even been in. It was a functioning church, so we obviously couldnt take pictures, but the interior was truly breathtaking (Talisa, you might have melted a little). Everything was so intricate and colorful and the CEILINGS were magical.

The smaller cemetery

The outside of the Church, which does not do justice to the magnificent inside

grave

So today (Wednesday), we went back, since we had more time in the afternoon. With our student cards, admission was really cheap (50 rubles, which equates to a little under $2) and we marveled at this amazing cemetery:

Dostoevsky. Literally, he is buried there.

Where Tchaikovsky is buried. You can see his name in Russian behind me

                            

                                                  I think snow makes everything prettier, especially snow this wonderful

So the excursion was a success. We had a great time, saw some famous people's burial sights, and got to see an amazing monastery, church, and cemetery. After that, I went for a very lovely walk until it got dark, then I came home and made dinner.