Tolstoy wedding to take place in Chiswick
Alexandra
Tolstoy to wed her Cossack at Russian Orthodox Cathedral on Harvard Road
This
month will see the wedding of Alexandra Tolstoy and Shamil Galimzyanov
in the Russian Orthodox Church here in Chiswick.
Alexandra, distant cousin of the author Leo Tolstoy and daughter of historian
Nickolai Tolstoy, met Shamil whilst on her Silk Road Expedition in 1999.
An eight month journey, travelling solely by horse and camel, this expedition
retraced one of the former trading routes that make up the ancient Silk
Road. She subsequently wrote an account of the journey entitled 'The Last
Secrets of the Silk Road' which was published in March this year.
Writing about Shamil, she claims “He was everything I imagined a Cossack
to be, a free spirit, accountable to nobody and valuing pride and honour
more than life itself. He exuded a masculine self-confidence, as if there
were no situation he couldn't control.”
They describe their forthcoming nuptials as a ‘small affair’ followed
by a reception at Alexandra’s family home.
Alexandra is currently working for Ultimate Travel and Ride Worldwide,
escorting horse treks through Uzbekistan, as well as planning a further
expedition for 2004 which plans to retrace Genghis Khan's campaign from
Mongolia to Uzbekistan, on horseback, and take the form of an endurance
race, competing against local teams of riders.
September 8, 2003
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