Anyone overwhelmed by city life, work or family, knows the fantasy of escaping to a distant and simple place where life unfolds according to the seasons. The siren song can beckon louder than the noise that’s left behind.

That temptation attracted Ekaterina Solovieva when she first traveled in 2009 to Kolodozero, a remote lake town in northwestern Russia. A native of a small city outside of Moscow, she had recently moved to Hamburg, Germany, with a small child, another one on the way, and without any chance of employment. She went there with her husband, who was studying there, but she did not know the language and was surrounded by the constant buzz of a new city, its people and culture.

Her decision to travel to Kolodozero was a much-needed break, even if she didn’t know what to expect. But she had been drawn there by the story of Father Arkady, an Orthodox priest with decidedly unorthodox manner.