Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaleditions.com/i/933831
RUSSIA AND UKR AINE The soul of the samovar is singing a tune of warm-hearted hospitality. Russia is full of riddles and surprises to Western thinking, according to Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. The people of the largest country in the world are passionate, creating swirly-spired onion domes of gold and striking colours, and making lithe, white swans dance across a Tchaikovsky-infused lake. A day at the Hermitage gives you a taste. Ukraine's ancient and splendid trade route, the Dnieper River, is lined with rich cultural treasures, onion-domed churches and rural folkways that recall the days of Vikings, Tsars and Cossacks. Visit Kiev's Cave Monasteries. Marvel at the riding skill of Cossack horsemen. And trace the footsteps of history at Odessa's Potemkin Steps. S A I N T B A S I L' S C AT H E D R A L , M O S C O W