La fattoria Little Italy: Little Italy in the Tver region.

The former fighter against the Italian mafia, Pietro Mazza, left sunny Calabria and set up cheese production in the Russian outback. Now, for Italian exotics, tourists go to his farm in the Tver region.

Text: Dinara Mammadova

A short gray-haired man in his sixties phlegmatically lights a cigar. "Russian entrepreneurs want to invest money in the morning, and make a profit in the evening - it will be too late tomorrow. In agriculture it's impossible, so there's no competition in our business," he says.

Pietro Mazza is Italian. In Russia, he owns the cheese farm La Fattoria "Little Italy" ("Little Italy"). And in his homeland he worked as a policeman all his life. Sixteen years ago, Pietro and his wife took up cheese production and agritourism in the Tver region and now welcome about 12,000 tourists a year. Visitors come here for tours and tastings of Italian cheeses and dishes, and Pietro even opened a hotel for them. Taras Astakhov, chairman of the Association for the Development of Agritourism, says that today about 3.5 thousand rural enterprises work in this industry in Russia. Typically, such farms receive 30-40 visitors a day, on average, one company sells goods and services for about 600 thousand rubles. But "Little Italy" broke all records both in terms of the number of tourists and in terms of revenue.

Under the nose of the boot

Outskirts of the village of Mednoe, 180 km from Moscow. There are no gates or barriers at the entrance to "Little Italy" - tourists are greeted only by Italian and Russian flags. There are about ten rather old buildings here. The hotel building has not yet been plastered, and you have to move along the paths. Doesn't smell like manure: Mazza keeps cows in another area.

I go into a gray one-story building - this is a tasting room. In the hallway there is an oven with a huge cauldron in which cheese is boiled, in two adjacent rooms there is a showcase with cheeses and souvenirs. There is also a banquet hall for 400 people. Music is playing somewhere - Italian hits from the 1980s and 1990s.

Pietro Mazza appears from behind a screen that hides the kitchen and utility rooms and drawls out in Russian: "Hello." “Italy is beautiful only in pictures, it is impossible to work there, there is strong competition and strict state regulation,” he continues in Italian, explaining why he settled in Russia. His words are translated by his wife Jeanne, a tall, energetic blonde. And he adds from himself: "Europe is in crisis, soon there will be nothing to eat there."

Pietro was born in the southern province of Calabria - this is the "nose" of the Italian "boot". Three generations of his family were engaged in the production of cheese, but Pietro chose a more courageous profession: he worked as a policeman in Rome, in the anti-mafia department. In 1992, in one of the Roman cafes, he met a 19-year-old Russian student who was studying in Moscow to become a catering technologist. Pietro and Jeanne got married and stayed in Italy. In the late 1990s, the family, together with their two-year-old daughter Jessica, came to the Moscow Region to visit relatives. And I decided to stay in Russia.

Pietro was then struck by the huge abandoned fields - in Italy, where every piece of land is used, you will not find this. In 1999, with savings and benefits received after retirement, Signor Mazza bought an abandoned sausage factory in the Tver region for several hundred thousand rubles. The plant raised cows on 16 hectares of land, Pietro also got old workshops and cowsheds. The village of Mednoye is located near the Moscow-Petersburg highway, the writer Alexander Radishchev stayed here. Future farmers found the place to be a good one.

Pietro had to remember family recipes: Mazzas bought milk from local collective farms and produced a ton of cheese (ricotta, mozzarella) per day. They sold mainly to metropolitan shops and restaurants, in the early 2000s it was easier to negotiate with them than now. But we realized that this path is a dead end. “We had to have our own milk to make cheese,” Mazza says. “Russian collective farms fed cows with silage, the raw materials turned out to be sour and unsuitable for cheese production. Poor raw materials affected the quality of the final product.”

There were also problems with sales. Soft cheeses, as a rule, are stored for two to three days. And due to problems with logistics, they often did not have time to reach the consumer fresh. Pietro and Jeanne came to the conclusion that cheese should be sold on the spot. To do this, you need to invite buyers to yourself.

Visiting cheese makers. At the Pietro Mazza farm, tourists can not only taste the cheese, but also cook it

Photo: Grigory Sobchenko, Kommersant

Farm tour

In 2004, the Mazza family purchased 60 cows of meat and dairy breeds, investing approximately 3 million rubles earned from the cheese trade. The premises of the former plant were converted into a barn for animals and a tasting room, and milkmaids and livestock breeders were hired.

Then Jeanne began to call Tver and Moscow travel companies, offered a gastronomic program - acquaintance with the cheese traditions of Italy and tasting Italian dishes. Travel agencies became interested: there was no such service on the market. At first, the farm was visited by children's groups from Tver. Then, thanks to word of mouth, customers from Moscow pulled up - now the farm cooperates with 100 travel agencies.

“We have been working with Little Italy since 2008, the demand is good,” says Tatyana Topolova, manager of the domestic tourism department of the Travel Store tour operator. “We send two minibuses from Moscow to the farm every weekend.” According to her, a similar proposal was from an entrepreneur from Podolsk, the company brought tourists there a couple of times, but then the interest of customers disappeared.

Usually a trip to the farm is not an independent tourist product, but part of a tour of the sights of the Tver region. Guests are taken to Torzhok, Tver, and on the way they are brought to Little Italy. The program costs 2-2.5 thousand rubles. per person. Travel agencies do not pay for the services of the Mazza family - the farm earns only by selling cheese to tourists.

Guests spend approximately two hours at the farm. They are offered to try nine varieties of cheese (ricotta, provola, caciotta, etc.) and fresh Italian bread for free. Private clients pay 1,000 rubles for a tasting. The owners hired professional guides in Tver and trained them. They tell guests how cheese is made, what it is served with, etc. Lunch is included in the cost of the tour. According to Pietro, guests are pleased when they are treated to homemade food, this is important for business.

The tour is also carried out around the farm, where an ostrich and a wild boar live in enclosures. There are also 30 horses that you can ride for money. Once the family bought several animals for their daughter Jessica, then the herd grew.

On weekends, about 200-400 people a day come to "Little Italy" with an excursion, on weekdays much less, mostly children and private visitors. "During May holidays tourists stood in traffic jams for three hours, they arrived at the farm angry, - says Jeanne. - I had to treat them with wine for free, so that people would come to their senses.

Agrotourism in Russia

Agrotourism is mainly engaged in farmers and townspeople who have become villagers, as well as foreigners who have come to Russia for permanent residence. According to the Association for the Development of Agritourism, in Russia today there are several types of agritourism enterprises. The most numerous guest houses, there are 1.9 thousand of them throughout Russia. They offer tourists accommodation, here you can ride horses or take master classes in the production of handicrafts. Agrotourism farms are also engaged in the production of agricultural products and invite guests to taste their products and participate in their preparation. According to the Association for the Development of Agrotourism, there are now about 1.5 thousand such enterprises. In addition, there are museums, estates, eco- and ethno-villages, there are no more than 150 of them in total. They organize corporate events, excursions, arrange theatrical programs.

Collective farm money

Over the past 16 years, Pietro has never been to Italy, he says, there is no one to leave the economy to. Zhanna communicates with travel agencies, is engaged in the production of cheese and supervises the staff in the tasting room. Pietro and 21-year-old Jessica manage the workers in the field. The farm employs about a hundred employees, most of them seasonally.

There are already 1 thousand cows in the herd, the farm receives about 2 tons of milk per day. The volumes for the private economy are rather big, but, according to the owners, almost all raw materials are used for their own needs. “To get 100 kg of cheese, you need to process a ton of milk,” Zhanna says. “And we sell such a volume of cheese in half a day. Therefore, we rarely sell milk.”

The farm produces 5 tons of cheese of 10 different varieties per month. Retail price - from 500 rubles. up to 1.3 thousand rubles. for 1 kg, about the same as in the capital's supermarkets. Recently, the owners opened an online store. The minimum cost of a basket of cheeses (slightly over a kilogram) is 2,200 rubles, including delivery to Moscow. Once a week, orders are delivered by a farm worker.

According to calculations SF, revenue "Little Italy" from the sale of cheese - about 39 million rubles. in year. The entrepreneurs do not disclose the amount of profit, but, according to Taras Astakhov, the profitability of agritourism is now 25% per year. Pietro and Zhanna invest their income in business development. For example, two years ago they made a small inn with 15 rooms out of a two-story extension. Many things - wrought iron beds, tables, chairs - Pietro ordered from local craftsmen. Cost per day - 1.5 thousand rubles. per person, however, guests are still reluctant to stay on the farm for the night. Mazza had an idea to build wooden houses for tourists, but one day there was a fire, and now there is a charred canopy in place of three log cabins.

cheese spirit

"You ask a typically Russian question, 'What is your profit?'" says Pietro. paper. And we continue to work. "

Mazza plan to slowly equip the farm so that tourists can spend here not two hours, but several days. Recently, "Little Italy" began to conduct a master class on the production of cheese for tourists who come on weekdays. A group of 12 people, together with the hostess, cooks three types of cheese. According to Jeanne, the master class costs 2.1-2.7 thousand rubles. per person and is in good demand, with several groups coming per month.

Already, the farm is working at its limit: on weekends, travel agencies bring five to six groups a day at a specially agreed time so that customers do not crowd at the entrance. Sometimes the tasting room takes 500 people a day, served by 25 people (Zhanna hires assistants in Medny). But Jeanne and Pietro cannot create a branch of "Little Italy" anywhere and delegate authority. "Everything needs to be looked after, we even have a saying in Italy, 'The eye of the owner raises the horse,'" says Pietro.

The owners plan to leave the business to their daughter, who willingly helps her parents. "She'll have enough for bread and butter," Zhanna shrugs. If the farm continues to bring in the same income as it does now, Jessica Mazza will have enough for more than just sandwiches.

Boris Akimov, co-owner of the project for the sale of farm products LavkaLavka

In 2010, when we opened our project, people's interest in agritourism was low. Four years later, I can say that trips to the countryside have become a steady trend. True, the development of the market is stalled not because of low demand, but because of the small number of enterprises where you can go. An agro-tourist farm must not only produce products, but also have the appropriate infrastructure for receiving guests: hotel rooms, restaurant, professional chefs. There are few such farms in Russia. The success of the La Fattoria "Little Italy" farm is due to the fact that its owners initially decided to make money from tourists. The very fact that an Italian emigrant produces cheese in Russia and introduces people to the gastronomic traditions of Italy already arouses genuine interest in his business.

The Russian history of Pietro Mazza began more than 20 years ago, when a hereditary cheese maker from Calabria married a Russian girl and moved to Russia.

- I was shocked by what I saw - a huge territory and no one around. I drove a car 200 km and did not meet a single person! This is simply not possible in Italy! Pietro says enthusiastically.

In 1996, Pietro and Zhanna founded a cheese factory in the village of Mednoye, Tver Region.

- At first we had 16 hectares of land and 100 cows. The territory was falling into disrepair, it was necessary to repair, restore, buy equipment. We did everything ourselves, with our own hands, it was a kind of experiment.

Later they built a rural hotel - agritourism, tourists began to come. At that time in Russia, such a holiday was new - people joined the peasant life, ate natural products, got acquainted with the production of cheeses.
Things went uphill, and the Mazza family decided to purchase an abandoned collective farm in order to move the increased herd of cows there. Later they bought a second collective farm.
Now the family farm has 1,100 heads, of which more than half are dairy cows. Main activity - cheese production.

- We make cheeses according to family recipes that are several centuries old, says Pietro Mazza, I brought our traditions with me to Russia. Most of the cheeses are produced using the pasta filata method, which is typical of the southern regions of Italy.

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Pasta filata (pasta filata) is a term meaning "stretched curd" or "strands of pasta", this refers to the process of heating and stretching the cheese mass at the end of cheese making. At the end of the stretching, the melted cheese is given its final shape and cooled.
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Pietro Mazza and his family coat of arms

- I settled on the Sychov breed, it looks like our European white and red cow. Their milk is closest to that from which parmigiano is made,- Pietro Mazza shares his experience.

- Previously, Russia fed the whole of Europe. There is a lot of good land and enough water, unlike Italy. But the Russian problem lies in the feeding of livestock: the basis of the menu is silage, from which the cows spoil, from it there is a high acidity of milk and a specific smell. The menu of our cows is not like the traditional Russian one, it lacks silage. Only the right feeding can produce the right milk, and this is very important in the production of cheese.

It is curious that Tver has a historical connection with Italian cheeses, which is reflected in the gastronomic letter of Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin.
In 1826 the poet wrote to Sergei Sobolevsky:

At Gagliani il Coglioni
Order yourself in Tver
With parmesan pasta
Let's boil an egg

Paolo Demyanovich Galyani and his wife Charlotte Ivanovna introduced into use among visiting travelers and local residents Italian cuisine dishes.
In the 21st century, Pietro and Zhanna Mazza produce natural cheeses made according to Italian technology, but with a Russian "accent".
tender fresh ricotta ideal for breakfast, the aged version will be a wonderful dessert in combination with marmalade, honey or fruit, butirro and burrata good in and of themselves mozzarella has long been a popular favorite cheese with a wide range of uses.

- Our mozzarella must be eaten within 5 days, many chefs do not like this, they ask for an increase in the shelf life. But this is a natural product that does not contain preservatives, so it does not keep for a long time.

It is worth noting that all Little Italy farm cheeses are made only from natural products without preservatives, dyes and any other additives, so the shelf life of soft cheeses is about 5 days, stretching (filata pasta) - about 10, and only aged cheeses can be stored for 20 days or more. There is an unspoken rule: how long the cheese is aged, so much it can be stored. But there are exceptions.

One of Little Italy's aged cheeses is called yunkata(or junkata), historically it was made in baskets woven from reeds (junka). This herb has a unique property: it releases natural antibiotics that extend the shelf life of the product. Usually yunkata is left for some time in olive oil and then sprinkled with black pepper.

- Many Russians travel around Italy, then come to our farm, try cheeses, and say that they better than italian, Pietro says proudly, and for me it means more than the opinion of professionals.

- You have to work on the farm 24 hours a day, so I haven't been to Italy since 1996, I just don't have time. My presence on the farm is needed every day. My wife, like any Russian, of course, wants to go to Italy, but it doesn’t work when you have a household.

In addition to cheese production, Jeanne and Pietro devote a lot of time to tourist groups. Cozy rural hotel, horseback riding, a restaurant serving dishes from their own products - cheeses, freshly baked bread, deli meats and hot dishes. For curious visitors, cheese tastings and master classes are held, during which you can get acquainted with the production of cheese and personally participate in the process. Many are infected with the idea of ​​homemade cheese and come back again and again to learn the technology and ask detailed questions.

- Now that the sanctions have been imposed, many want to be cheese makers, but this is just talk, to make cheese you need to study and work a lot,- Pietro smiles slyly, - the cheese maker has to feel the milk, it's not math, you can't just add enzymes to milk and get a quality product.

Making cheese during a master class

- I live in Russia and make cheeses for the Russian consumer. There is a lot of chaos in Russia, but this is my country and I like it. I feel better here than in Italy.

Program

The Italian farm in Mednoye “La Fattoria LITTLE ITALY”, which means “Little Italy Farm”, is located in the village of Mednoye, Tver Region.
Italians in Russia. Real European traditions of cheese making in the Tver region. You haven't seen this yet? Then join!
Here, tourists are invited to get acquainted with the farm, where a professional guide will tell you about the history of the creation of the farm, about its structure, tell everything about the cheeses that are produced here, about their production and tasting rules.
More recently, this tour was a novelty in Russia. But today it is already a well-established, very memorable, and most importantly, mouth-watering journey. Yes, it is appetizing, especially if you are a lover and admirer of cheese.
Both adults and young guests of the Italian farm in Medny will learn a lot of new things! It will be interesting to look at the inhabitants of the farm: horses, ostriches, ponies and even a mule. Some animals can be fed (food is provided).
In a cozy tasting room, decorated in the style of an Italian Trattoria, guests of the farm can taste various types of real Italian cheeses from soft ricotta to “golden” caciotta, made under the strict guidance of the owner of the farm, Mr. Pietro Mazza, a fourth-generation cheese maker, from the milk of his own cows, which are kept on a neighboring farm in Selizharovsky district, Tver region.
The tasting consists of approximately 8-9 types of cheeses: burrata, butirro, mozzarella, ricotta, golden parmesan and others) /Affettato di formaggi italiani 8-9 tipi. Do not rush to eat ... listen carefully to the guide, he will tell you about each cheese separately, which is on your dish, explain how and from what the product was prepared .. enjoy the process ...
You will learn that cheeses come in 3 categories - soft, hard from the pulling cheese grain. Hard cheeses (for example, caciotta - aged) are problematic to cut, they can only be grated. The readiness of hard varieties is checked by tapping with special hammers. The assortment is based on classic Calabrian and Neapolitan cheeses (stretching varieties are cooked exclusively from cow's milk): mozzarella, ricotta, butirro (filling: butter), burata (filling: cream). Riccotta translated from Italian- “twice boiled”.
And then you will be invited to an Italian lunch:
- Lasagna "Alla bolognese" - pasta sheets "lasagna" "Beef, mozzarella cheese, tomato, spices).
- Cabbage salad with balsamic vinegar / Polpetta di manzo con la provola Insalata di verza con aceto balsamico.
- Second course: Polpetta (beef, parmisanino cheese, provola cheese, tomato sauce, spices).
- Dessert: "Profitterol" (custard balls with cream and cream) "Coffee farm" dessert (with coffee and ricotta cheese cream) / Profitterol Dessert al caffe con la crema di ricotta.
- You will be offered the same mineral water and freshly baked bread according to Italian recipes (Cibata), tea.
You can order a glass of Italian wine (for an additional fee).
If necessary, they will be happy to advise you on how best to taste and use in cooking, the proposed products.
All tasting products can be purchased at the specialty shop on the farm: exclusively fresh cheeses, butter, milk, freshly baked bread and other products produced on the farm daily in limited quantities. There will also be an opportunity to purchase various Italian souvenirs and gifts. As well as Murano glassware, various masquerade masks, porcelain dolls and much more. All this is done by the best masters of Venice, Florence and Rome.
On the way to the farm we will visit ancient city Torzhok, formerly called New Torg, is located on the banks of the Tvertsa River.
Torzhok was founded by Novgorod merchants and was first mentioned in the annals of 1139 under the name Novy Torg. Residents still call themselves innovators. Heyday falls on the beginning of the 19th century, when this county town and its environs were built up on a metropolitan scale by the architect N.A. Lvov. Torzhok is widely known for its gold embroidery. All buildings in Torzhok have unique facades. Indeed, it is impossible to find two identical, or at least similar, houses in Torzhok.
In addition to the inhabited houses, the city is decorated with the Trade Rows of the end of the 18th century. “Here, in quiet, spacious, semi-dark shops, Bogaty Torzhok reigns. Here, on deep shelves, heavy piles of woolen and silk fabrics of domestic and foreign production rest, there is fragrant manufactory, dishes, shoes, icons and church utensils - in a word, everything that the city needs ”- this is how they wrote about the shopping malls at the beginning of the 20th century ... quite a few architectural ensembles temples and monasteries of the XVIII - XIX centuries. The oldest building is the wooden Ascension Church, Resurrection Monastery, Tveretskaya Embankment, Borisoglebsky Monastery, etc. N.V. Gogol, S.T. Aksakov, A.N. Ostrovsky, I.S. Turgenev, V.A. Zhukovsky stayed here , there were A.N. Radishchev, V.G. Belinsky, churches. Back in 1668, a Dutch traveler wrote: "Torzhok is very populated and beautiful because it has over thirty churches and chapels." All this creates a unique atmosphere of a small town with cozy quiet streets and cute houses along them.

• Travel information
• Torzhok: Sightseeing tour of the city with a visit to the Boriso-Gleb Monastery of the 11th century, with a visit to the wooden Old Ascension Church, retail space with monuments 18th architecture century, panoramas of the Transfiguration Cathedral and the picturesque embankment of the Tvertsa River.
• Visit to an Italian farm with cheese tasting and Italian lunch.

The Italian agricultural farm "FATTORIA DEL SOLE" (translated from Italian - "Solar Farm") in the village of Mednoye, Tver Region, is a real piece of Italy on Russian territory. The farm was created by an Italian cheese maker in the sixth generation “in the image and likeness” of similar agricultural farms in Italy.

The village of Mednoye has been known since the end of the 14th century. Subsequently, he was described in "Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow" by Radishchev; Pushkin also visited here. A few years ago, the Italian Pietro Mazza came here - he came for a short time, just to get acquainted with the relatives of his young Russian wife Zhanna. But, fascinated (by his own admission) by Russian nature, he remained forever. He decided to do what his family has been doing for four hundred years - cheese making. At first, the couple made cheese for sale, but it seemed to them rather boring and not very profitable. With tourism, things have gone much better - now their farm has up to 100 visitors a day. On an area of ​​16 hectares, 25 people work, including Pietro and Jeanne.

The excursion to "Fattoria Del Sole" begins with a walk through the farm. Workers and a professional guide will tell guests about the technology and production different types about the production and rules of tasting pasta, they will tell you about the history of the farm, show local attractions, introduce the youngest visitors to the local "zoo": wild boars, ostriches, horses, ponies, goats, sheep, rabbits, a donkey and a camel live on the farm . If you wish, you can ride a pony or feed your favorite animals (food will be provided by the farm staff). Already accustomed to tourists, representatives of the local fauna are happy to eat directly from the hands of guests.

The walk lasts about an hour, after which hungry tourists are invited to a cheese tasting. Guests will try ten varieties of the freshest homemade cheese - hard, soft, cow's and goat's milk, mozzarella, young ricotta, Parmesan. The cheese is personally prepared by the owner of the farm, Mr. Pietro Mazza, from milk from his own cows, who, in order to make the cheese good, are fed only with fresh grass, and not with cheap silage. The varieties you like can be purchased at a local shop (there you can also buy local bread, desserts, Italian seasonings and other products). In the future, the owners of the farm, Pietro and his wife Zhanna, plan to go even further. During the “cheese Sundays” that they conceived, tourists will be able to make their own cheese and immediately taste the resulting product (this is what agritourism in Europe looks like: guests not only observe, but also actively participate in rural life). In the meantime, unfortunately, the process of cheese production is not shown at all.

After the tasting, guests will have a full lunch, consisting of traditional Italian dishes (lasagna, tiramisu, etc.). Lunch is a selection of set menus. Moreover, everything that is served at the table - from fresh bread to young wine, from snacks to desserts, from fresh vegetables to sun-dried tomatoes cooked in a special oven - is produced here, on the farm. The result is very tasty and authentic - far from every Italian restaurant in St. Petersburg you can try such high-quality and proper Italian food.

The plans for the future of the Mazza family are even bigger: to open guest houses so that tourists can stay for a few days (houses are already under construction), to open a restaurant with 350 seats (it is almost ready) and to lay out their own garden (apple and pear trees have already been planted).

Agritourism, very popular with urban residents in Spain, Italy, France, is still an extremely rare form of leisure for Russia (working on your own six acres does not count: it is still rather hard work, not rest). Farm "Fattoria Del Sole" is a great way to get acquainted with this type of tourism, visit the Italian countryside without leaving the country, have a great day away from the noise of the city, and at the same time stock up on delicious organic products.

I'm a cheese addict. I love cheese in all its forms. And when I found out that near Tver, in the village of Mednoye, there is a farm owned by an Italian, where cheeses are prepared according to Italian technology, I simply had to go there.
A visit to a farm is a whole ritual that begins with visiting a restaurant and watching a presentation on how cheeses are made.

1. Meet the owner in person. They say that in 1999 he bought a semi-abandoned farm, married a woman from Tver and together they began to raise the farm. A few years later they had a restaurant with 10 seats, now more than 100 people can fit in the hall.

2. While viewing the slides, you constantly smile. Where else can you see cheeses that tell how they are made?

3. Degustation of 9 types of cheeses and Italian cuisine is a must. Cheeses live look much more appetizing than in the photo - poor lighting for shooting. And what they taste like!

4. This parmesan is 8 years old or something. Used as a demonstration for visitors.

5. After a hearty lunch, we “roll out” into the street to get acquainted with the inhabitants of the farm and shake off the calories gained. What I did not expect to see on an Italian farm in the Tver region was the Australian emu.

6. Whose piglet this is, I think it’s not worth telling.

7. Horses, and all animals on the farm are welcome guests

8. And this is not surprising, because this is feeding out of turn. Didn't know horses like bread

9. And they love carrots too

10. Dairy cows. I don't know why, but this is my favorite photo from this trip.

11. Cows love to eat bread too.

12. Some "portrait" shots with cows

13. Each cow has its own character, and this can be seen wonderfully in the photo. There isn't one alike.

14. But these cows are for slaughter, that's why the eyes are so sad. My vegetarian mind was outraged by this. But everyone has their own karma

15. This cow is no longer there either.

16. And this representative of ungulates, my wife nicknamed Leontiev, for her hair :)

17. I must say, he deserves this nickname, rushes around the corral, like an artist on stage!

18. And this is his "more tanned" understudy

19. If you wish, you can ride a horse, here on this one, as I understand it

20. I don’t understand horses, this Arab blood is considered a cool breed.

21. Of particular note are the plates with names and comments for each ungulate.

21. A whole family of identical white dogs also lives on the farm. They attack tourists and force themselves to comb their hair.

22. Sand nose

23. And then there will be shots taken in the Tver region on the way to the farm.

24. Stairway to nowhere

25. The weather was just super! This is us using GPS "we went along the shortest route :)

26. There is something in this ...

27. The dome of this church struck me. I've never seen blue domes!

28. Unfortunately, not all churches are restored

29. And further photos were taken on the outskirts of Tver. You can't tell from them that 2011 is in the yard.

30. Game frozen in the frame

31. And again, GPS advised us not the most successful route - some kind of road, but that one ended :)

32. And finally, I wish you all the best!