Because it was Sunday we decided to stay for another day in the hotel. The buffet breakfast was one of the best we have ever had with a huge variety of dishes to choose from. We then went to see the sights, of which there are very few because the city got flattened in the civil wars of 1988 and 1995. It has now been rebuilt at enormous expense with space-age buildings and a lot of flashing neon lights. Russia’s equivalent to Las Vegas. We went to see the biggest mosque in Russia, paid for by Turkey and we had to go through separate doors after Jennifer had been given a long cloak to wear. I wandered around inside but was not allowed to climb the stairs into the second storey for the best view as only women were allowed. Bloody typical. The buggers will be wanting to play cricket next. We also saw an olive tree 1,500 years old which is a replica of the tree under which the Prophet Mohammed met a local king and converted him to Islam.
I had to be dragged round an enormous three-storey mall selling clothes manufactured by every top fashion brand in Europe, but sold under different names. So Benetton clothes, for example, are imported by an Italian company with an obscure name and then sold to a Russian company which markets them.
Shopping is not my scene, especially as we couldn’t buy anything (no cash) so we went to see the little church. It has been attacked by ISIS in 1998 and there is a rather sad plaque to mark the deaths of two policemen who were killed defending the church. We had to be frisked by armed police and there were also soldiers with semi-automatics, the first we had seen in Russia. The frescoes inside were beautiful, albeit less than 20 years old. We then wandered back to the hotel and had another delicious meal.
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Groznyi business centre
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Our hotel (on left)
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River running through Groznyi
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Aslan Kadyrov Mosque
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Replica of holy tree
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Inside the mosque
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The Mall
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Plaque at war memorial
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Groznyi after the 1995 war
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Church
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Groznyi from the restaurant at the top of the hotel
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Roof of the dome