has to offer but artie's james brown delves into the life and traditions of the somare. 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 if you prefer the scenic route you can take allegedly 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 around one of the 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 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 eighty 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 more than. 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 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 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. this is over. 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 bush if 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. 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 a 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 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 truck or car but sometimes the thin ice caused disastrous accidents so it is the only safe 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. to. make. 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. 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 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 i'm next to an old landing module i met up with a museum director for a guided tour of the premises. mara 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 do that even five 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 resort have built their own by sea nine hole course. so the. best way to elude you speak english. yeah. cuomo this constant james damn well then let's you know ok well this is a first for me ok 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 us 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 know then those but to make up position in them so prepare yourself to make a suit and then to break. you out of the headlock. not exactly in a special start not always thought go for the non-contact sport. all . walking wounded. i 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. see you. 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. right. comes to 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 was turning out to be a lot of fun and i was ready to take a look at another famous russian business the coals this region home.

country. if you wander around the streets of samarra you'll see more than any other and that's no surprise because it's dominated the region's manufacturing industry the decades. if you think. that you can't help but think. they've been going up and down the country's roads for almost half

a century and the story. of. this is the. seventy thousand employees work within it six hundred hecticness and they produce two and haul thousand new calls every day. so when i think of this that's a classic this is pretty much what crops up in my head but it's. a little more than. i was ready to see how it was done. in the right place. i would be a fabulous ok so this is where everything begins. so this is the only hope.

we are able well linda nice to know a little more than the history of the can in the late sixty's and since we used more than twenty six millions of cards to print them a list. of this. so far. from all the love. on the face of the art to more than past the feel. the cleaner is one of the longest biggest sellers and machines work day and night keeping production line going. along the line relieved by all of us to give a little german company. good and well the reason the night of the cardboard. only two persons here and there is the corporation is. amazing. and once the frameworks assembled it's on to the next part the operation. now we're

going to do you know and it worked out. ok and the border with forces there we actually just qualities again. and in the neighboring hangar things were moving on quickly. from the wind screams to the engines and the wheels all poets return separately and it's remarkably forced 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 blog. is ready for the roads. to clean a maybe a very popular color around here in the winter time it can get you everywhere sometimes you just have to try out a more traditional means of transport now or recently strapped on a pair of skis around about the first time in twenty five years no 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 you already on the river this is and speed that's no more the rope 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 yours which apparently is skiing behind animals in this case a high powered snowmobile. remote from the belly up in this doesn't. yeah right

did i mean me really feehan or just. because i had my medical insurance up to date . bunch 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 of it going like. please please. come back i'm going to fall back. and mrs lee there were a couple of false starts but eventually i managed to stay all right. ok i know you like he was around. but still be.

alive still much. want you managed to control your balance this is an amazing experience and soon i was ready to join the going is for a group effort. and we're ready to rock. nice little piece that you will. be flying. but if you are trying this for the first time it's special to get out of the comfort and. well. well that's a fairly intense introduction to skiing but i think.

everything's still intact. the rest. unfortunately my recovery was to be short lived. well i'm still shaking 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 it goes a promised i was going to enjoy myself. or will they say. so what are we going to. of course will. be ok so simple no super with roy's instant flying power. and useful i got. to. this

place ok. turns out that a tunnel rat is an acrobatic expert in for to cool wind tunnels and i was about to get my first lesson who will. first. like. these beautiful imagery. you know if you are good and happy people. smile down it. here. partly the secret here is something 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 at 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 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 and 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 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. and discover very worked up i am not sure what it is. possible to everyone 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. no 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. this is the. elements of the massively successful. i don't. expect to have some sort of significance. have to be the result i sign up for this. apparently mushy series here to beat all the bad spirits out of you before the year starts anew. and then you can have a go on with both my breasts with the stiffness that i thank you for it but. i found once everyone has been cleansed this is yet more dull sing to celebrate but finally i managed to sneak off to swim to. windsor is one quest i am not kids by only

so i see. 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. new

york police reportedly used tear gas to evict anti-corporate pro campaigners from there's your county park headquarters after they vowed to escalate their protests to mark two months of action. syrian opposition leaders come out against military

intervention in their country with a meeting with russian diplomats in moscow. the syrian opposition say they're willing to negotiate with the goals of the only with those whose hands on. this in a few moments. as unelected bankers and economist take the reins in greece and italy r t it takes a look at the eurozone and how it descended into the hole where troubleshooters have had to dig them out. it's two am and or two pm rather in moscow i matras are good to have you with us here on r t our top story police have cleared out occupy protester camps in new york reportedly using proper pepper spray entier gas on the demonstrators the raid comes after activists valid heightened action.