under some our region definitely fits the bill 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 the supposed 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 but i did a thorough this rather tassie concretes about to uncover one of some auras biggest secrets. during the second world war many soviet governmental institutions as well as most of the foreign embassies moved to samoa this huge bunker was created in one thousand nine hundred two has a back up to stalin and his cabinet. this is a really amazing feat of engineering this this entire bunker goes down those forty two meters and they built it over the space of. seems even more incredible to me is that the people have some or apparently didn't even know that this place was. was only in the city 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 conflicts who were then 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's still operational 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.

right this is over it's called the reinforced steel it all this is what the germans would have us would go through. if they are of here to make your in their. rusty off the face is still the. 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. and 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 cushion 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 trunk 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. adds. to the lists. like make. the ice they want to see me with any passengers but i was very happy to be going so. we can avoid hitting any excuse to get. one you don't have to look off to it is easy to get carried

away. the problem with this. if i was driving this all the. people to the other side of. this great. spun out 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 rockets seventy percent of the world space flight school use these rockets and then made right here

in the city. one of the proudest parts of summer 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. or a 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 five hundred kilometers above the earth 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 firm 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 players. baskets you allude to speak english. yeah. no more of this constant james then asked me. ok well this is a first for me ok this is in the snow actually for me too 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 mind 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 have them both but to make up position. them so prepare yourself to make a suit and then to make this move. you are the head. not exactly in a special start and i'd always thought go for the non-contact sport. oh . walking wounded. want to get out of the way of the person playing. some soothing tea i was ready to teach. the ladies went on when i decided i'd play a solo round. as long as i wasn't attempting to drive. ahead in the right direction.

c.u. ball. game. now. mind you my technique wasn't my first concern. with the temperature down around minus twenty celsius so minus four. and i may have made one of the quickest. history. comes to the high school. and. who is now. going to

enjoy some very well deserved because. in the club. it may have been freezing but some be a lot of fun and i was ready to take a look at another famous russian business the coals this region. not saying. what's going on here.

if you wander around the streets of some. you'll see. and that's no surprise because it's. the. help but think of. the country. this is the. six hundred is. every day. ok so when i think of

a lot of this that's a classic this is pretty much what props up in my head but it's. making something a little more modern. than i was ready to see how it was done. in the right place through. well as a few places in the us. i would be a bad date populus ok so this is where everything begins a so this is well this story of the hard beginning we are in the world and in these in the plot the probably the one in the car at the history of the cars began in the late sixty's and that's when we produced more than twenty six millions of cards to print them a list silly we produced the dean families of ours. from cold blood in the last

month on the basis of we are two more than possible that one of the few. the leader is one of his biggest sellers the machines work day and night keeping production line going to load the guys behind the lead by all of us to get them to do it with the german company to come up with it is the weld in a place in the night of the cardboard actually only two persons on need here and there is a separation is. available. 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 forces go into the sweetest quality again. and in the neighboring hangar things were moving on quickly. from the wind screams to the engines and the wheels touch separately and it's

remarkably full. stop aeration. and what do you get for your seven thousand euro price tag something like this. the sixteen hundred pieces of metal but only four hours on the production line my brand new law that. is ready for the roads. to clean a maybe a very popular color around here pants in the winter time it can get you everywhere sometimes you just have to try out a more traditional means of transport now 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 samoa i decided i'm going to ramp things up a little bit. so you know so i'm guessing it but even so mara like to do things a little bit extreme yes you got to extreme right now what exactly we're going to

be doing today we're going to ski your e. on the river this is and speed that's almost the role and this ok the future will be between sixty kilometers. maybe one hundred right that sounds terrifying. good ok let's go. in here and his friends and fans of stuart which apparently is skiing behind animals in this case a high powered snowmobile. romo makes it look very effortless doesn't it. yeah right give me really feeling 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 home a craft again. benito's. or

. there it is all of the lack so please please. because i got. mislead there were a couple of false starts but eventually i managed to stay upright. ok i know you like. but still. i'm still much. want you managed to control your balance this is an amazing experience and soon i was ready to join the guys for a group effort. and we're ready to rock.

that will. be fine. but if you are trying this for the first time it's best to get over confident. oh. well. well that's a fairly intense reintroduction disc. but i think. everything's still intact. but unfortunately my recovery was to be short lived. a king from there on the ice but apparently my new friend has another thing that he wants me to

try something about. a tunnel runs. it sounded rather ominous but once again it goes a promised i was going to enjoy myself. although they may say. so what are you going to. go. ok so simple no see super with roy it gives you instant flying power. and useful i go. and. i hear this voice ok. turns out the tunnel rat is an acrobatic expert in for cool wind tunnels and i was about to get my first lesson. fortunately.

these beautiful imagery. happy people. smiled on it. probably the secret here is something changes to your body surface area. and you should draw a simple safely 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 five hundred horsepower engine enough to even get someone like me off the ground. good long. right ok we're into the tunnel. but tara. was here.

and then it was time to take to the air i was a little worried that i could crash to the floor to any point but remained had a good grip on me. the theory. was a little bit more. i would like it better than. it. had made it through the time the run it was time to go sort of. them despite bouncing off the walls a few times i made it down in one piece. that . spirits

ok there are about thirty techniques and could do their part and they but i think i'm going to call that one the bellyful i didn't know it the superman cert 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 needs a festival is definitely got to be one of my favorite times in russia because basically it's a week long 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 a traditional native inhabitants but on quite a show for. not just a claims to have people with us. first residents of this area after 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. that this guy very worked up their most or what it is.

they will find a. little tender on was upset because they were hungry but a bit of a boogie seems to solve problems. i really had no. i have no idea what was going on. oh. no all people. and then the guest of honor arrives this old lady represents muscle units and she's here for a special reason. and then things started to get weird i. think this is the. hell of a massively successful. how i expect to have some sort of significance.

i have to be people is what i signed up for this. apparently must mean series here to beat all the bad spirits out of you before the year starts anew. and then you can have a go well with both my parents with the staples that i fifty for a living but very savvy about it. i found once everyone has been cleansed there is yet more don't seem to celebrate but finally i managed to sneak off to some to. windsor is rank with oh i am not kids but i only have. so i was eight. i should help with the rope. i buy doesn't really earned my pancakes but sadly it

was time for me to be leaving so mara. i found a thriving cultural business and scientific center and people that are always ready to show you a great time. in

. brighton if you move the song from fans to impression it's. to start on t.v. dot com. in defense of damascus moscow blame syria's increasing international isolation on western plans for regime change. syria's hour of the day because turn their backs on president assad as the united states and its allies called the tougher action to bring about the

downfall of the syrian leader. changing of the god those new prime ministers take over in italy and greece we look at how they plan to tackle their country's overwhelming debts and. yes please put the pressure on anti corporate occupy protesters tearing down tents and arresting activists as the crackdown on the two month long movement escalates across the country. the u.s. and its allies are more interested in regime change in syria than a peaceful solution to the unrest that's according to the kremlin russia's foreign minister says western countries are trying to stir up syria's opposition to topple president bashar assad. has the details so if you love that all of us said in a statement expressing russia's dismay at the decision.