Yaroslavl

Much prettier than Kostroma, but unfortunately we barely had any time here.  The highlight of the day, for me, was the fact that the symbol of Yaroslavl is the bear - and I love bears. =)  Legend has it that Prince Yaroslav the Wise founded the town.  When he first arrived, he encountered a group of pagans who worshipped bears, and who kept one in a cage for religious purposes.  They set the bear loose on Yaroslav, who killed it because he was so close to God and such a great warrior.  After that, the pagans converted and Yaroslav was given the Christian name Gyorgi (George).  The town retained a bear weilding an axe as its symbol.

One of the main draws of the city is the Savior-Transfiguration Monastery, one of the oldest in the Volga region.  A few years ago, the townspeople captured a bear in the nearby environs, and "Masha" (named after a Russian fairy tale, "Masha and the Bear") now lives there.  You can visit her for a price, if you get tired of wandering around the monastery's gift shop.