stay with r.t. . if you're traveling in the russian winter it's always good to head to somewhere well developed 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 or if you prefer the scenic route you can take a leisure li fifteen hour train ride. well that was a long journey and there's nothing like coming into minus twenty so wake you up but i mean some are one of the biggest cities in the whole russia. 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. well it's not exactly a very picturesque place but i did anything though this rather tassie concretes about to uncover one of some more as 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 as a backup for stalin and his cabinet. this is a really amazing feat of engineering this this entire bunker goes down almost forty metres and they built

a space of. what 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 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 then executed but nothing was ever confirmed. just kind of the first level here hopefully you'll be able to get inside. sources hello nice to me. and one man who knows all about the place is my guide anatoly 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 but 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. the reinforced steel it. is. 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 benefit to venturing out on days as cold as these it's got to be this sort of view of the mighty volga river in all its frozen glory where 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. and 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. crofts to the lists. in time like across 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 that would be good. but when you don't have customers to look after it is easy to get carried away. the problem with so much fun if i was driving this all the time i'd just be tempted to . drive people to the other side of. this great. spy now there were several chilly passengers waiting for a ride so it was time for me to make my exit. now that. is what i call a ferry crossing. on 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 samoa and 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 somalia is history and include the launch vehicle to stoke that carried the first man into space and now some of the city's cosmic achievements are on display to the public. this is a full of a lot of. space. take a look. i'm next to an old landing module and i met up with museum director for a guided tour of the premises. is the right place for such a museum. because our city has been the local point of this country 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're 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 a volley of hundred kilometers above the it would be able to read what was on the news here 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 you 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 yet. james then. ok well this is a first for me ok in the snow actually for me to. what's the idea about today what's going on well it's a golf tournament you know 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 yeah then those but to make up position. then to prepare yourself to make a suit and then to break. you out of the head. not exactly in all species start not always thought go for the non-contact sport. all. 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 the longest drive. ahead in the right direction. i still miss. c.u. ball. game. 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. comes to the high school championship.

and. who is now. going to enjoy. some very well deserved because. in the clubhouse it may have been freezing but some are was to be a lot of fun and i was ready to take a look at another famous russian business the coals this region home. right to clean. money. what is new. to sixty square kilometers. and those who are still suprising.

here. not saying. you know what's going on here. concrete. twenty years ago. if you wander around the streets of somalia you'll see more than any other and that's no surprise because it's. the decades. if you think of. that you can't help but think. they've been going up and down the country's roads

for almost half a century and their story. this is the. seventy thousand employees work within it six hundred is to make the. to inhofe thousand new calls every day. ok so when i think of a lot of this that's a classic this is pretty much what crops up in my head but it's. making something a little more than. i was ready to see how it was done. in the right place through. this. i would be a bad date populace ok so this is where everything begins. so this is well the

story of the car beginning we are in the weldon business in the plot the problem of the morning car at the history of the bus began in the late sixty's and that's when we produced more than twenty six millions of cards to print them a list of silly we produced with the infamous of ours there from old pleasant ones . on the basis of we are two more than cars love the plane on the freeway. the true leader is one of his biggest sellers the machines work day and night keeping production line going to little ties to high end relieved by all of us to give a little german company to come up with it is the world in a place in the night of the cardboard. only two persons need it here and there is a separation is. to get them once the frameworks assembled it's on to the next post the operation. now we have to go into the next day job and it

worked up with the body ok and the border with force is going to show interest only the good. and in the neighboring things we're moving on quickly. from the wind screams to the engines and the wheels all poets return 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 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 bounce in the winter time it can't 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 around 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 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 skijoring on the river this is and speed that's almost. 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 a fans of stuart which apparently is skiing behind animals in this case a high powered snowmobile. romo makes in the belly up in this doesn't it. yeah right me of eighty feet in august. i had my medical

insurance is up today. but 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. theo's i'm ready. for it is all of it going like. please please. come i got. a miss and lee there were a couple of false starts but eventually i managed to stay upright. ok i know you like he wasn't out of but. still. i'm still much. what you managed to control your balance this is an amazing

experience and soon i was ready to join the going for a group effort. and we're ready to rock. and i. feel that you will. be fine. but if you are trying this for the first time it's special to get out of a confident. oh. well. well that's a fairly intense reintroduction to skiing but i think.

everything's still intact. i think i just got a little rest but unfortunately my recovery was to be short lived. 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 it promised i was going to enjoy myself. oh well they may think you get so what you're going to lead to. the course will. ok so the second super with roy it gives you instant flying power. and useful if you've got it well. and. a little history

will go it's ok. turns out that a tunnel rat is an acrobatic expert info to cool wind tunnels and i was about to get my first lesson who will flourish with. these beautiful imagery. good and happy people. smiled on it. tightly the secret here is something changes to your body surface area do it right and you should rise and fall 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. little bit more. through. all of them. and all tried made it through a timed 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 and they but i think we're going to call that one the belly fly didn't it the superman certain 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 it's a 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

a claims to have people with a first residents of this area often 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. and they're still very worked up i am not sure what it is. they will find it. 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. oh. you know 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. good to see this is the. element of the massively successful. i'll. expect to have some sort of significant. recipe people is what i sign up for this. apparently mushy series here to beat all the bad spirits out of you before the year starts a new i and then you can have a go on with both my parents. the statistic that i thank you for it but sorry i'll be 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 the subject so. windsor is right quist i am not kids by only

a size eight. i should help with the rope burns who. doesn't 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. russia

condemns foreign powers for inciting the opposition in syria and in the attempt to topple president assad and this comes after the u.s. in jordan called for him to step down and the arab league to system bend to damascus is membership the organization demands assad starts talks with the syrian

opposition and implements a peace plan that they brokered to end the bloodshed that's claimed thousands of lives. changing of the guard has new prime ministers take over in italy and greece hoping to tackle their country's overwhelming debt critics say the new euro pratik prime ministers could end up putting brussels and the euro before the interests of their own people. police in the us ramp up pressure on the occupied movement as they crack down on peaceful protests camps and marchers across the country in oakland officers in riot gear raided the city park tearing down tents and arresting activists this comes almost two weeks after protesters shut down the city support after an iraqi war veteran sustained severe head injuries during a demonstration. occupy protesters while the protesters of the occupy wall street movement put the blame for economic inequality on the fat cats.