the capital is the seventh largest city in the country and can lay claim to being one of the most important business and cultural centers in european russia it's also one of the most picturesque boasting the largest central square in europe and along beautiful embankment alongside the volga river it's a ninety minute flight from moscow if you prefer the scenic route you can take a leisure lee fifteen hour train ride. well that was a long journey and there's nothing like coming into minus twenty so wake you up but . one of the biggest cities in the whole. and i was also in one of its largest and most unusual buildings the glass fronted train station was completed in two thousand and eight and it's one of the highest places in town so this isn't a bad view point to take my first look at the city from this post to be

a million people down there and hopefully plenty of interesting places to explore as well. and my first stop was a real hidden gem. it's not exactly a very picturesque place here but i did they throw this rather tassie concrete about to uncover one of some more as they could see clips. during the second world war many soviet governmental institutions as well as most of the foreign embassies moved to some mara this huge bunker was created in one thousand nine hundred two has a back up to stalin and his cabinet. is a really amazing feat of engineering this this entire bunker goes down those forty meters and they built a space of. what seems even more incredible to me is that the people that some are apparently didn't even know that this place was. was only in one thousand nine hundred ninety when the soviet union was dissolved.

and they finally found this huge structure had been under their feet for almost fifty years. the rumors are that it was built by convicts who were them executed but nothing was ever confirmed. just kind of the first level here hopefully to be able to get inside. sources hello nice to me. and one man who knows all about the place is my guide i'm a totally even after all this time the power systems are still working. here you find life support systems and equipment was installed when the bunker was still under construction it has not been replaced since then but it still operational and it works automatically it's russian made equipment the bunker was built to house up to six hundred people and they had some pretty effective defenses . this is over

a. reinforced steel it. through . the bunker now doubles as a museum with various classrooms holding its old equipment geiger counters gas masks and first aid kits are all on display but the most interesting area is right down in the depths. it's an eerie experience entering this huge conference room and imagining the plans that might have been made here. the central table is laid out for the generals and politicians the stenographers are off to the right and stalin himself would have sat under the huge map at the head of the room for the majority of the soviet union's existence some are was renamed. on the map clearly indicates its strategic position safely away from the german front lines it was never

confirmed that uncle joe ever set foot here but the designers had obviously been told to meticulously prepare just in case nothing like a little megalomania to start the day but i was very happy to make my way back to the surface and take in some fresh air there's one real benefits of venturing out on days as cold as these it's got to be this sort of view the mighty volga river in all its frozen glory now the river here is covered in ice for at least three months of the year and it was always a real pain to get across until some local businessmen opened up the rather unusual ferry service. valarie has been running the operation here since two thousand and seven literally thousands of people come to cross the river every month and they all jump into these air cushioned hovercrafts and it's made the journey a lot less precarious. before we started using the hovercraft people would try to

cross the river by trying or car but sometimes the thin ice caused disastrous accidents so it is the only save method. but now it only takes ten minutes and costs around one euro to make the journey safely and the bus itself is surprisingly easy to control. costs to the lists. it. looks like. they want to see me with any passengers but i was very happy to be going so. we can avoid hitting any excuse that would be good. but when you don't have. it is easy to get carried away. the problem with this. i was driving.

people to the other side of. this great. there was several chilly passengers waiting for a ride so it was time for me to make my exit. is what i call a ferry crossing. foot i was ready to check out some of the attractions i'm one of them is quite literally out of this world. if you're talking about the soviets all the russian space program when you're talking about some of the soyuz seventy percent of the world space flight school use these rockets and then made a hit in the city. one of the proudest parts of somalia is history and include the

launch vehicle that carried the first man into space. now some of the city's cosmic achievements are on display to the public. full of a lot of. space memorabilia take a little look and next to an old landing module i met up with a museum director for a guided tour of the premises. is the right place for such a museum to our city has been the local point of this country's space engineering for decades here you can see there are men satellite that has been in outer space. it is a replica of war to the world renowned cosmonaut yuri gagarin used during his space missions. there around six hundred different exhibits that date back to the beginning of space exploration including some of the most advanced technology of

the cold war. makes me feel very small when you realize that you were next to something without sleep been out there among the stars and these spy satellites were part of the soviet and russian space programs for the best part of forty years and these lenses so powerful that if i open this up to do that even full of hundred kilometers above the it would be able to read what was on the museum is definitely one of the city's cultural highlights but if you're also a winter sports fan you won't be disappointed either ok so if you ask me fun things to do in the russian winter i could tell you maybe sledging a bit of skiing i probably wouldn't say. bus here in samarra they don't let a small thing like the conditions get in the way of the rounds. and designers of this ski resorts have built their own by sea nine hole course.

so the. best way to elude you speak english. yes. cuomo this constant james family were there last night. ok well this is a first for me ok in the snow actually if i'm into so. what's the idea about today what's going on well it's a golf tournament so you play golf almost the same rules as for some money you have of course some local rules. over us rules are you know code and conditions of weather conditions right now ok so now we're trying to play in nine holes. but always been in the good walk spoiled camp when it came to goal but louder was obviously a down pound and she said she could give me a few pointers. what do we need to do so the first thing you have to set up

your ball on the tee ok you know then those but to make a position. then to prepare yourself to make a suit and then to make this move. you are the head. not exactly in all species start and i'd always thought go for the non-contact sport. oh. walking wounded. get out of the way of the person playing. to some soothing tea i was ready to teach. the ladies went on when i decided to play a solo round. as long as i wasn't attempting the longest drive. ahead in the right direction.

see you. here. now. mind you my technique wasn't my first concern. with the temperature down around minus twenty celsius or minus four. and i may have made one of the quickest ice cold in history. right. now comes the high school. and. who is now. going to enjoy. some very well deserved because. in the clubhouse it may have been freezing but

some are it was turning out to be a lot of fun and i was ready to take a look at another famous russian business the calls this region home. culture is that so much a given to each musician that i can find in the market is it deja vu all over again united nations nuclear watchdog the i.a.e.a. claims in a new report that iran is moving ever closer. wealthy british scientists on. the. market. can. find out what's really happening to the global economy with max cause or run

no holds barred global financial headlines tune into kaiser report. if you wander around the streets of somalia there's one car that you'll see more than any other and that's no surprise because it's dominated the region's manufacturing industry for decades. if you think of the old russian car that you can't help but think of the older they've been going up and down the country's roads for almost half a century and their story started right over that. this is the alto bus factory more than seventy thousand employees work within it six hundred hectares is and they produce two and a whole thousand new calls every day. ok so i think about this that's a classic this is pretty much what crops up in my head butts. making something

a little more moderate. than i was ready to see how it was done. in the right place through. military if you noticed me. i would be a bad date populus ok so this is where everything begins. so this is well this story of the hard beginning we are in the welding business in the law because the wooden bar at the history of hamas began in the late sixty's and since that so we produced more than twenty six millions of cards to print them a list silly we produced the diem families of ours. from cold blood in the last float on the basis of the off to more than possible the final end of the free world . the leader is one of the longest biggest sellers the machines work day and night

keeping production line going to build the ties to high end rallied by all of us to give it to the german company to come up with it is the weld integration the night of the cardboard actually only two persons on needed here and there is a separation is. not available yet and once the frameworks assembled it's on to the next polish deliberation now we're going to the next stage you know and it worked out with the body ok and then the border with force is going to show me just qualities that the kid. found in the neighboring hangar things were moving on quickly. from the wind screams to the engines and the wheels. separately and it's remarkably fast operation. and what do you get for your seven thousand euro price tag something. like this.

the sixteen hundred pieces of metal but i'm four hours on the production line my brand new law the killeen is ready for the roads. to clean a maybe a very popular color around here bounce in the winter time it can get you everywhere sometimes you just have to try out a more traditional means of transport though i recently strapped on a pair of skis to run about the first time in twenty five years that was quite quiet easy reintroduction but here in samarra i decided i'm going to ramp things up a little bit. so you know if i'm guessing it but even some are like to do things a little bit extreme yes you got to extreme right now what exactly are we going to be doing today we're going to ski already on the river this is and feeds the snow more boil the role and this ok the future will be between sixty

kilometers per hour. maybe one hundred right that sounds terrifying. good ok let's go. in here and his friends a funds of skewering which apparently is skiing behind animals in this case a high powered snowmobile. romo makes in the belly up in this doesn't mean. yeah right get out of me of anything or just. my medical insurance is up to date. but it's one way or another i was going to have to give it a go so i was properly kitted up but i was starting to wish i'd just gone and taken the whole the croft again. benito's. really. hurt is all a very good like so please please.

ok i know. what you managed to control this is an amazing experience and soon i was ready to join the group effort. and we're ready to rock.

this for the first time. oh. well. well that's the. but i think. everything. i got a little rest but unfortunately my recovery was to be short lived. well i'm still aching from my session out there on the ice but apparently my new friend has another thing that he wants me to try something about turning me into a tunnel runs. it sounded rather ominous but once

again because of promised i was going to enjoy myself. although you may think. so what it would have led to. because we'll. ok so simple no super with roy's instant flying power. and useful i've got to follow. and. a little history will place ok. turns out that a tunnel rat is an acrobatic expert in vertical wind tunnels and i was about to get my first lesson who will. first. like. these beautiful imagery. if you are good and happy people. smile damn it.

tightly the secret here is subtle changes to your body surface area do it right and you should rise in full safely and if you train enough eventually you can do stuff like this the wind speed is apparently more than two hundred kilometers an hour and it's powered by a five hundred horsepower engine enough to even get someone like me off the ground . good long off. right. into the tunnel. but. maybe not this year. and then it was time to take to the end i was a little worried that i could crash to the floor to any point but remained had

a good grip on me. a. very. little bit more. through. all of them. and all tried made it through a ton of them run it was time to go solo. them despite bouncing off the walls a few times i made it down. in one piece. and then they say spirits ok they're about thirty six could do their part in a but i think we're going to call that one the belly fly didn't it the superman suit

works after all. it had been a lot of fun but some are was beginning to tie me out so i thought i'd end my trip with a little self-indulgence the muslim meets the festival is definitely got to be one of my favorite times in russia because basically it's a weeklong extended version of pancake day but it also is supposed to signify the end of winter and i've heard that the two of us some are of traditional native inhabitants but on quite a show for. not just the claims that her people were the first residents of this area off they battled with bashkirian nomads back in the eighteenth century. and it seems they still like to expend some serious energy to get themselves in the mood for a feast. very worked up i am not sure what it is. they will find a. little tender on was upset because they were hungry but a bit of

a bookie seems to solve problems. already i know. i have no idea what is going on number two. zero. zero zero people. and then the guest of honor arrives this old lady represents mussing it's him she's here for a special reason. and then things started to get weird. this is the. elements of the massively successful. i don't. expect to have some sort of significance. wetherby people is right out in the sun up to this.

apparently must seem serious here to beat all the bad spirits out of you before the year starts a new law and then you can have a go bill with both eyes yes. the stick is that. for you but very obvious. i found once everyone has been cleansed this is yet more daunting to celebrate but finally i managed to sneak off the subject so winter is rank with oh i am not kids by only a size eight. i should help with the rope so. why doesn't it leo and my pancakes but sadly it was time for me to be leaving some araa. i found a thriving cultural business i am scientific center and people that are always ready to show you a great time. well

to. sunny's technology innovation all the lees developments around russia we've got the future covered.

in defense of damascus moscow blamed syria's increasing international isolation. regime change. syria's arab neighbors turn their backs on president assad as the united states and its allies call for tougher action to bring about the downfall of

the syrian leader. turning up the heat tough talks between the u.s. and china over trading currency issues as the apec summit comes to a close in. u.s. police turn up the heat on. protesters tearing down a resting activists as the crackdown on the movement escalates across the country. and later this hour qatar as the liquefied natural gas project in the arctic find out who might be a russian partner at this hour in the business. international news and comment live from moscow this is all with you twenty four hours a day the u.s. and its allies are more interested in regime change in syria than the peaceful some .