Day 24: Saturday 5th September

It’s not till later we discover that we went forward one hour unnecessarily, so we have a very early start at the Mamaev Kurgan monument. It’s a stupendous sight – massively dominating the whole area, a concrete 84m Mother Russia, sword in hand and concrete cloak billowing behind in the wind. It’s on a hill raised specially to look out over the bend in the Volga where supplies were ferried in over the ice during the Nazi siege. The approach is lined with red flags, more statuary of battle scenes, gold lettering and marble steps. Towards the top of the approach the war memorial itself is located, with sombre funereal music, a circular building with dome above, lined with the names of the fallen. In the centre is an eternal flame guarded 24/7 by two Russian soldiers changed every hour on the hour. They have to stand stock still for their hour before goose-stepping away from their plinths for their replacements to take their places.

There is an overwhelmingly patriotic and respectful atmosphere. Flower sellers outside offer bouquets for placing on the monuments but we don’t cotton-on to their purpose until we are already well past so we miss the opportunity to pay our proper respects and to put our roubles to work.

Many Russian tourists are already present at 8.30am, buying flowers for the memorial, taking photos of their kids in military caps, photos of girlfriends and families. It would have been some comfort for those who died if they had known they would still be remembered in this way over sixty years later.

After the Mamaev Kurgan we catch a tram to the Stalingrad Resistance Museum a little way into town. The helpful conductress puts us off at the right stop, Ploshad Lenin, and we make our way through to the museum. At first it defeats us – there seems no way in, though we can see people inside through the windows. We almost give up but wander around the outside exhibits to see if we can find another way. Sure enough, it’s on the level below. While looking around we come across a group of veterans being photographed and interviewed by local media in front of the derelict flour mill, one of the few buildings that were centres of resistance in the siege and the only one still standing. It is preserved as a monument.

Within the museum the presentation is flawless, comparing favourably with the private Battle of Britain museum we visited in Folkestone – though the exhibits of weaponry, photographs, medals and stories are all on similar lines. A solidarity telegram from ‘the people of Coventry’ is on display and Stalin is very much in evidence – including a full-length portrait in Napoleonic pose – shame he didn’t have the wit to see it coming even after repeated warnings from his intelligence people.

The guidebook is misleading again – access to the panoramic reconstruction of the battle scene is free and unregulated, contrary to the ‘guided groups’ account in the book. This panorama is extremely well done, conveying the reality of the battle on the ground with a seamless transition between the actual artefacts and reconstruction in the foreground and the painted vista as the background.

After the museum we walk along the tree-lined central reservation of the main drag – Volgograd’s own ‘Unter den Linden’ – and find a ‘posh’ café for lunch. It’s nicely presented but the tuna in my salad is not a fraction of the chicken Jill gets in her Caesar. Afterwards we find a supermarket and buy much-needed provisions but on our return to the hotel car park I am caught unawares as I am charged £3 each for bags of onions and potatoes – probably ten times their cost and it was just me mishearing the Russian numbers. The vendors, Kyrgyzstanis, converse with me in broken English and my pidgin Russian. She says that she too is a tourist and reels off a list of a dozen countries she visits on her travels – including Iran and Iraq. She praises Sakashvili of Georgia and I give the thumbs down. Not surprisingly she was very friendly but didn’t bother to correct my calculations!

Another white wedding crosses our path – this time in the hotel ballroom, and there is music and dancing till quite late.

Both yesterday and today in Volgograd have been warm and sunny – last night was like a Greek island evening. So much for all the warnings of the early onset of winter in Russia – or is it global warming?