Perm City Day

Annual celebration - 12 June

We arrived mid-May, just missing "Victory Day" celebrations, but in time for Perm's City Day, 12 June, 1999. We didn't speak a word of Russian beyond da (yes) and nyet (no). Things were complicated for us, since we didn't really have a grasp of the culture and jumped blindly into it. Upon reflection, we should have better prepared ourselves for this journey, but we managed. One thing we learned first and foremost: flexibility. Time does not dictate a Russians schedule, except for when it comes to catching trains or attending church services. It was nice to have at least those two constancies in our life at that point. We were literally flying by the seat of our pants from the moment we arrived in Perm until the day we left!

Voznesenskaya Church

This church was used as a bread factory during the Soviet Era

We arrived in Moscow, not knowing what to expect. We did a whirlwind tour of the Kremlin and Red Square, but then had to make our way to the train station to catch our 22-hour train.

We got on the train with only a little food and a little water, thinking we could buy something at stops along the way or eat in the restaurant car. One visit to the restaurant car was all it took to know we didn't want to eat there. Somehow, we survived the trip!

St. Stephen's Monastery - High Point of the City

We first heard of Perm when we were in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1998. Our friend, Andy Frecka, was about to embark on a HUGE undertaking...pioneering a base in Perm! He invited us to join him, but the most we would commit was to "visit" during the summer (no snow, right?) of 1999.

Perm is located northeast of Moscow and west of Ekaterinburg (Sverdlovsk). It is the last city in Europe as one heads east to Asia on the Tran-Siberian Railway.

Approximately one million people live in Perm. She is in the heart of the Ural Mountains.