Category: 2012 Moscow St Petersburgh

Today is not as cold as it has been but it is still cold enough to warrant warm clothing.

After ‘another’ Scenic breakfast, we board the coaches and head for what we could call ‘Palace Day’.  Fortunately, the trip to Catherine’s Palace is about an hour away and I manage some sleep-eye.  We arrive, before opening time, in misty fog and take a walk around the beautiful gardens.  There is only one thing wrong with the gardens; there are no flowers in it as preparations have been completed for winter and they are just waiting for the snow.  Autumn leaves are covering the ground and workers are raking them up, perhaps to be used as compost.  This is where Catherine the Great used to spend her ‘free’ time.  It is mainly a summer palace but she chose to visit in the winter as well.

During the war, the Germans destroyed much of the original building. We have to put ‘booties’ over our shoes so as not to damage the fancy floors.  All palaces have grand staircases – this one is exceptional.  As we enter the Great Hall, the timber carvings everywhere have been covered in gold leaf.  With the numerous mirrors on the walls it looks immense and for the wealthy.  Rooms go on and on.  There does not seem to be a hallway as there are enormous doors at both sides of the room.

The celebrated Amber Room, its walls lined with panels of amber (6 tonnes), gold leaf and mirrors, was dismantled during the Nazi occupation and taken to Germany where it vanished in the chaos at the end of the war.  After more than 20 years of painstaking restoration work, thanks to the financial contribution of the German government and using black and white photos of the original, it has been completely re-created and was reopened for the tricentenary of St Petersburg in 2003.

Our lunch is at the Podvorie Restaurant.  The local food is rather ‘hot’, salty and spicy, and I don’t eat too much, although they do cook up a salt-free ‘hash brown’ for me.  The live music is performed by a group of 5 in custom folk dress.

Our second palace visit for the day is to the famous Peterhof Palace.  This is 32 km west of St Petersburg on the Gulf of Finland and is the brainchild of Peter the Great.  Peterhof was severely damaged during World War II when it was occupied by the Germans, and was completely gutted in 1944 when they blew it up as they retreated.  The German invasion happened very quickly and so the sculptures were buried to protect them rather than store them in another location.  Pre-war photos and drawings were of invaluable help during restoration, which took several decades but has finally been completed.  The magnificent chandeliers and paintings are originals, where were carried away into safekeeping during the hostilities. The 150 fountains in the 1000-hectare park have been drained for the winter and so we will have to revisit the Palace at another time to enjoy their splendor.  Peterhof was just a summer palace and so there is no restored heating here, and it is being prepared for the winter with all the sculptors around the fountains being covered in timber devices to protect them during the severe weather.

On our return to the ship, we get our ‘marching orders’ for tomorrow as we depart this interesting country.  To travel on a ship for 11 nights with a load of travel agents has been interesting.  I often wondered if I would buy travel from some of the agents, (“are they ‘really’ travel agents?”).  We leave the ship at 9:00am and after 4 hours of free time in the city; we will be taken to the airport for our departure back home.

I hope you have enjoyed our quick trip to Russia and you have been somewhat ‘educated’, as we have been.  Next trip? – Africa in 2013.  We already have 17 confirmed travellers so just 3 more for the inclusion to Kenya and up to another 10 to do Africa and Victoria Falls.  Give Lyn a call.

Our memories must be failing – it seems a very long time since leaving Moscow.  We have arrived in Saint Petersburg after being delayed by heavy Artic fog during our cruise down the waterways of Russia.  Today, we are able to keep to the original timetable and all is back to the way things are usually done in Russia.

While having another Scenic breakfast, we dock some 40 minutes from the city center.  Coaches are ready to take us to what Saint Petersburg is famous for.  Our ‘No 2’ ambassador is a local and has had vast experience tour guiding in his city and enjoys comparing Saint Petersburg to Moscow and how the traffic here is less chaotic.

Saint Petersburg has had several names, the most recent being Leningrad.  After the fall of the USSR, the locals wanted the name to revert to the name Peter The Great, the founder, had given it.  The temperature is not as cold as it has been in the north.  Our morning tour is through ‘The Hermitage Museum’.  In many ways, I am reminded of the tour through the Vatican; great tapestries and artwork.  Some of the halls are enormous and gold leaf is a plenty.  There are crowds of people and we are told that this is just a 5 out of 10 in intensity of tourists.  The summer crowds are usually 9 out of ten and so we can make it through the museum in less than 4 hours.  Not being racist, we are reminded that Asians want to do and see things immediately and it is better to ‘let them through’ than to try and keep order.  There are 5 buildings that make up ‘The Hermitage Museum’; we manage to tour part of 4.  The fifth is a concert hall, which doesn’t contain anything of significance.

Lunch is taken in another historically significant restaurant, but the cake shop on the way has my interest.  (Mmmm must return during ‘free-time’)  Being vegetarians, the salmon steak is not too inviting, but the cheese soup is a good take.  When we come to having tea and coffee, we ask for milk and are told that it is not included in the meal (Wish I knew where the local MacDonald’s was so I could get FREE milk).

After viewing the Cathedral of the Spilt Blood, we are shown where various touristy spots of interest are and are set loose on the town.  The two gift shops we are directed to, have some very nice local souvenirs in and we eventually find some pins of the Russian Flag to attach to our vests with the other flags of countries we have visited this year.  The amber jewelry is noticeable.  Of course, the matryoshka dolls are a plenty.

Some of the department stores are very swish.  The clothes on display are winter stock – not good for us coming into summer – so we save a lot of money, yeah!  Yes, we find ‘that cake shop’ again, and enjoy some chocolate cake decorated with interesting cream swirls.  However, they do not have hot chocolate.  We find a coffee club shop to satisfy that desire.  The chocolate is so thick, you can almost stand the spoon upright in it.  Has anyone tried hot chocolate with pancakes? Not bad, not bad!!

This evening, we are treated to an hour of the Russian Ballet.  It is held in a theatre which was built by Catherine the Great for private entertainment and has a grand staircase at the entryway.  The 25-piece orchestra accompanied 9 ballerinas, and whatever the word is for male ballerinas.  It was just enough for many in the group as the end of the day often sees them kipping on the side.

The evening meal is welcome after arriving back at the ship at 9:45pm.  Not many stay up to dance into the wee hours of the night tonight, for tomorrow is a packed full day of visiting 2 palaces in the outer suburbs.

This fog thing certainly has changed things with the tour.  We have had to miss out on two ports and gained one.  It is quite cold without wind.  When the fog lifts, we move towards Saint Petersburg along the Svir Waterway, a canal between Lake Onega and Lake Ladoga.

We are two hours behind our original schedule for today so the program is moved around a little.  The judging of the matryoshka doll painting continues for the full day.  During the ‘Round Table Discussion’ many questions are asked of the Cruise Director and Scenic Ambassadors about how the political changes over the years have affected their lives.  We are told that they have free speech and that there vote is counted, but it’s the way the votes are counted that matters to the ‘elected’ party on the day.  Each of them has had good university education and some have been to USA for additional university education.  To help fill in the time, we have ‘port talks’ for both Mandrogi and Saint Petersburg.

We arrive at the little village of Mandrogi at 2:00pm and, after being divided up into three groups, make our way to separate eating houses to experience local food and eating/drinking customs.  Much vodka is consumed as people think of different things to ‘drink’ to; our health, our travels, our families, our parents, our … our … anything to get another swig of vodka.  Us tee-totalers can tell some are taking in full glasses of vodka when ‘short’ glasses would pass the ‘enough’ stage.  We are not sure they will make it back to the ship after lunch.

Mandrogi is a sort of holiday rest location with water sports on the canal.  The houses are a large log cabin well done up, both inside and outside, and very warm.  The first course includes some ‘hot’ cabbage.  Lyn leaves that to the side of the plate.  The second course is beetroot soup.  I find it rather good and, of course, warming.  There is also a main course – steamed rice and pork.  I get through the rice and leave the pork on a stick thingo.  We are entertained by some of the locals with old-age musical instruments.  One has a wooden flute and a strumming type of zither.  A second has a little bird shaped piece of wood that sounds like a high pitched little bird.  Then there is a woman that has a very strong deep-throated singing voice.  Without having the berry-pie dessert, I move outside into the misty rain to take video and photos of the Canadian-type landscape.

I check out the gift shops and a few of the other buildings before returning to the ship, not knowing that the departure time has been delayed 30 minutes.  Oh well, the cabin is warm and comfortable.

The rest of the afternoon is free time.  If you ever come on this cruise, Lyn and I now can say that the panorama room is the way to go.  We can see what’s up ahead (during the daytime), and have been able to get some great shots and views.  Our journey takes us into the large Lake Ladoga.  Our ship starts to rock and roll a little so Lyn is off to the doctor for a seasickness tablet again.

This evening is the Captain’s Farewell Reception and so all the crew are dressed in white.  We have ice-cream cake for dessert – and I get to stay to my three courses maximum this meal without duplication.  The entertainment tonight, after the announcement of the winner for the ‘painted doll’ competition is completed, is a surprise package.  There has been a ‘Russian Choir’ formed from the language sessions and they sing a few new songs to us – with some Russian folk dancing thrown in.  The hotel staff often find things that travellers leave behind after the cruise.  Our hotel manager reads out a ‘left behind’ diary.  Oh the stories people write about on a cruise is mind-boggling, and when people get tipsy, they laugh at anything, and the rolling movement of the ship accentuates their belief that they are going to have a late breakfast tomorrow.

Lyn and I ‘retire’ at 10:30pm to watch some TV before dozing off.

We awake to another very heavy fog and a stationery ship.  If we are to move in a fog, the captain receives an appropriate fine for putting lives at risk, so we stay put.  Our program is altered and we cannot make it to Kizhi, a small island at the western side of Lake Onega.  Other activities planned for the afternoon are moved to the morning.  The visit to the Captains Bridge is interesting as our ship is the most modern ship in Russia and is the first ship registered in the country in 25 years.  Finally, at 10:30am, the fog is lifting and we can start to edge our way westward.

After going through 5 lochs, we call in to the village of Vytegra at 3:30pm.  In some ways, it is very much the outback village of northern Russia.  The town is not expecting a shipload of 90 tourists so there is no coach to meet us to show us the lifestyle of the village.  We walk through the ‘country’ lanes of the village to get a ‘rough’ idea how the people live.  The houses are very basic, and often not painted.  One has a satellite disk attached to a nearby tree. You can tell that winter is intensely cold.  Each house has a large wood stack to take them through coming freezing conditions.  There is evidence of snow damage to the road surface with many potholes.

We wander through the quaint town taking photos.  Most of the leaves have fallen ready for another intense winter.  This enables us to see through the trees where the 15,000 inhabitants reside.  There is an abandoned Russian submarine close by the wharf to view and inspect.

When we get back onboard, the sun is low and is shinning into our suite.   It is very comfortable watching the final of the Ladies tennis match in Linz, followed by the World Cup weightlifting for ladies.  Soon the sun sets, and we are treated to another northern sky as we enter Lake Onega.

One of our ambassadors gives us a 90-minute talk on modern Russian and the effects each leader has had on the country since 1917, the year of the Russian Revolution.  Lenin, the start of the communist party, Stalin, Troski, the second World War, Khrushchev, the second World War, Kosigan, Gorbachev, the drunkard Boris Yeltsin, Putin; all have had marked effects on the country.  Russia has had a tough time in the past negotiating with many other nations.  Despite its forced autonomy, it joins the ideals of the west.  Mention is made of the catastrophic nation debt of over 100 billion.  (I mention to Vadim later that Julia has increased national debt to over 250 billion and he is horrified.)

After another 4-course dinner (I have reduced my meals to a maximum of 3 courses – some can be duplicated, of course, and I’m not saying which one) we enjoy some social time together.  This includes a ‘Liars Party’ and a ‘Mister Cruise’ competition.  We make it into bed again around 11:00pm.

We have had no internet access for over 48 hours and so you are receiving two posts close to each other.

We awake to a dense fog and are informed that we have had to moor most of the night due to dense fog.  Our mooring spot is off Cherepovets.  The ship eases very slowly towards today’s destination.  There is no way we will get to Goritsy by 10:00am so when the fog lifts, we full steam towards Kizhi.  We are north of the 60^th parallel.  It is common for the first fall of snow in Russia to be on the 13^th of October each year – we hope that it is not going to happen near us or we may never get to St Petersburg.  Today, it is freezing.  To go on the top deck, we must ‘rug-up’ for it is only 4 degrees and with the wind chill factor, it must be around zero.

To fill in the morning, the Matryoshka Painting Class is brought forward.  Lyn paints the little doll as is displayed in the pictures (not bad for the first attempt) while I have a kip in the cabin when not looking at the view ahead.  One guy, we think is an artist, doesn’t like painting clothes so he painted the dolls as nudes – he reckons.  Then follows a ‘bloody mary’ tasting session (We don’t join in on that one.)

Lunch is the normal four-course buffet meal.  I have decided to do my best not to have more than 3 courses in a meal.  I hope that decision pays dividends.  We have free time in the afternoon to enjoy the passing scenery on this great waterway and on into Lake Beloye.  The sunset is another ‘northern stunner’.  Our cabin faces to the forward and left hand side of the ship and so we have time to get the cameras ready for taking photos of the waterway scenes along the way. The Volga Baltic Waterway is a canal from the Volga River to the Baltic Sea.  The Volga River flows into the Caspian Sea to water the farmlands of southern Russia and on into the southern states of the former USSR.

Prior to our ‘what are we doing tomorrow’ session with the cruise director, there is a lecture on how vodka is made, what it can be made of and how to drink it.  One demonstration has the glass placed on the elbow and is drunk for that difficult position.  Another idea is to drink from two glasses at the one time – with a wide-open mouth.

Dinner tonight is with some interesting folk from Coonabarabran NSW.  Dell specializes in golf tours around the word and Colin has the small motors shop next door to Dell’s travel agency.  Dell’s clients come from all over the world – a niche market indeed.

The evening entertainment is performed by the two photographers on board who are also accomplished musicians, one on a button accordion, and the second, a 4 stringed balalaika.  Dressed in national dress with red knee-high boots they pump out their music at a very fast Russian pace.

We retire at 10:30pm but are woken at 12:00 midnight with the ship dropping anchor, as the fog has come on very heavy and we cannot move until it has lifted.

We arrive at Yaroslavl at around midnight and anchor just near the port.  At 5:30am, I get up to post the Uglich Day and we commence breakfast at 7:00am before disembarking and joining a bus tour of the city.  It is hard to take nice photos of any city enshrouded with mist but we take a few walks around various monuments and yes, more churches.

Yaroslavl was founded in the beginning of the 11^th century by Kiev Prince Yaroslav, the wise, as a fortress on the right bank of the Volga river at its confluence with the Kotorosi River.  There is an old legend about the building of small wooden fortress named after Prince Yaroslav on the place of pagan settlement.  It says that Prince Yaroslav was traveling around his lands with a large retinue and came to Bear Corner.  The inhabitants of the settlement worshiped bear as a sacred animal.  Local people let loose a bear.  But the Prince fought the beast and killed it with his battle-axe.  This legend explains why the coat of arms of Yaroslavl shows a bear and an axe.

The upswing of the Volga Trade Route, which took place after the disintegrations of the Kievan Russ, favoured the development of the town.  In 1218 Yaroslavl became the capital city of the Yaroslavl Principality, and in 1463 the Principality joined the Great Moscow Principality.

By the middle of the 16^th century Yaroslavl was transit trade points between Moscow and the countries of the East and the West.  There were about 70 businesses in the city.  Yaroslavl was also famous for its white wash and leather.

The first female Soviet cosmonaut, Tereshkova Valentina, comes from Yaroslavl.

At one of the museums, a brown bear is on display – she is BIG!  We are treated to some bell music played by a guy who was clever but looked totally disinterested.  At the toilets in the museum, we find what you never expect to see at a museum – the walls covered with pictures of toilets from around Russia.  Lyn takes a liking to the picture above of the elephant enjoying a big piece of meditation.  We visit a lacquer museum – the chocolate at 100 rubles is an acceptable price but the lacquer boxes at 300 to 3500 USDs do not make it to the credit card machine.

We are set free to roam the city for 45 minutes and find the local markets in behind a bare looking street frontage.  The food hall is most interesting with colorful displays of food and produce.  The dried fruit stall has some tasty items, which we purchase for nibbling later.  Our ship leaves for tomorrow’s destination a little after mid-day while we are enjoying another Scenic Tours lunch of four courses.

Lyn gets in a little sleep before a session on Scenic Tours Destinations.  I am able to enjoy the passing Russian countryside with sunshine, yes sunshine, streaming into our cabin.  What a good choice Lyn made in upgrading our accommodation before leaving Melbourne.

This afternoon, we are given a demonstration on cooking Instant Russian Blinis.  A Blinis is  a pancake and some of you may be interested to try them out.  Here’s the recipe.  5 tbls. Flour, 2 and ½ cups milk, 1 tbsp. sugar, 1/3 tsp salt, 2 to 3 tbsp. vegetable oil.  Beat eggs, salt and sugar, pour in milk, add flour, and mix.  Add vegetable oil, stir again and begin to bake blinis on a preheated pan.  Grease the pan with butter before baking the first thin pancake.  Wait till air bubbles appear and break and then flip the pancake over.  Serve with jam, honey or cream, or as is suggested (this is for Sharon), serve instant blinis hot with red or black caviar or salmon, with butter, sour cream jam for tea or coffee or as an appetizer for vodka.

After another sumptuous evening meal, our Tour Guide and ambassador, dressed in Russian costume, give us a photo/commentary on the things Russian.   This is followed by some Russian folk dancing.

We wake to a new day but not a new sky – it is still cloudy.  Our ship has been travelling all night and after breakfast, we pass through a loch and into the town of Uglich.

Founded in 937, Uglich is one of the most beautiful towns of the Yaroslavl region.  Its foundation is ascribed to a relation of a Kievan Prince Igor whom he had sent to the Upper Volga ‘to levy tribute and to register population’.  Uglich features an ancient kremlin in a very provincial setting.  Up to the 17^th century that was all that Uglich had represented – a kremlin surrounded by the trading and the artisans’ quarter fortified with ditches and ramparts and a few, unfortified, settlements beyond.  The trading quarter has 10 monasteries, two trading squares and houses of townsfolk.  Years ago, this small town used to mint its own coins.

In the 16^th century, Uglich became the center of the most important events – in 1552 a portable wooden fortress was assembled by Uglich carpenters for Ivan the Terrible to take Tatar capital Kazan to put the end to the Mongol-Tatar yoke that had lasted for over two centuries.  Under Catherine the Great, Uglich became an administrative center and its architecture was changed to become more symmetrical. Despite the economic decline in the 19^th century, the town’s old history and its charming beauty lured people of arts who stared its cultural revival.

Following a talk about the handcrafts of Russia, we are taken on a walking tour through the ‘country-style’ kremlin, which includes visiting three churches.  In one of the churches, we are favored with a couple of songs from a male quintet.  Man, did that 2^nd Bass get down ‘low’.

Like Moscow, Uglich shops do not have a verandah over the footpath; the entry ways are small and non-inviting.  We try the local supermarket for some toiletries.  It is not self-serve and the customer service person found the products for us on the shelves.  We are reminded of how things used to be done in the old 4 square shop on the corner back in the 50s.  After wandering into many of the shops just to see how they operate, we make our way back to the ship through the vendors’ market place where artifacts and national dress code is available at reasonable prices.

Our ship departs the little town of Uglich at 1:45pm.  Another four-course meal is available for lunch and then we take part in a Russian language course for an hour.  The Russian language is made up of 33 letters and many shapes representing the different other sounds used within the sounding of the word.

We have a short rest followed by a History lesson about the period pre the 1917 revolution.  I enjoy hearing history but as for re-telling it accurately, I am useless.  So I can’t tell you what was mentioned other than names like Ivan the Terrible, Catherine the Great and Elizabeth.  Of course there were other names which ….you best google for the detail.

Tour director, Anna, gives a short talk on tomorrows program and dinner is another, “weight watchers delight” – NOT!

An early ‘8:30am on the bus” starts our day again.  Our plans for today are to visit the State Armory Museum, walk around the Kremlin Grounds, some free time and then a 7:00pm concert to be given by the Zlatoust Choir at the Ilia Glazunov Picture Gallery.

We find that nothing has changed since yesterday – the traffic is slow and unpredictable.  It takes over 1 hour 10 minutes to go the normal 30-minute drive into the city center again.  Along the main street are literally scores of banks each displaying the current conversion rate from roubles to USD – around the 31 roubles to 1 USD.

Red Square is the ‘center’ of the city with the Kremlin backed up against it.  To enter the Kremlin after paying the entry fee, we are scanned by machine as well as Russian eyes.  Those in ‘authority’ do not know that smiling is a lot easier than frowning.  So you feel these burning sets of eyes going straight through you.  Today, we can only take pictures if we can see sky – in other words it is forbidden inside buildings or be ‘destined to hard labor in the harshest conditions’ of the local ‘salt mines’.  The word kremlin means a fortress or walled town; the one in Moscow is the biggest and most famous of all.  The earliest rampart was of earth and wood, but successive rulers raised and strengthened the defenses after attacks. There are 20 towers along the wall of the kremlin; each one has its own history and architectural quirks.

The State Armory Museum began in the 16^th century as weapons workshops.  These palatial buildings developed into a center for Russian arts and crafts, employing the most-talented jewelers, icon-painters, printers, leather-workers and embroiderers. The Armory became a museum in 1851 and its collections were expanded with treasures from churches and private collections after the October Revolution.  The highlight of the gallery is the display of royal regalia and thrones.  In many ways, The Armory reminds us of the Vatican but I think the Armory has much more wealth in the form of precious stones and handcrafted clothing with some beautiful coaches donated from other countries.

In the Kremlin grounds, are many famous buildings; the Bell Tower of Ivan the Great, the Archangel Cathedral, The Cathedral of the Annunciation, The Cathedral of the Assumption, five Palaces, the Armory and the Senate, the Arsenal and the former Supreme building for the Soviet Congress.

We come back to the ship for lunch and a short amount of free time before returning to Red Square for free time.  Lyn and I wander the area visiting the underground 3 level shopping plaza, and witnessing the changing of the guard at the tomb of the unknown soldier.  The guards march goose-step style with a straight leg coming up to waist height.  We all meet at 6:30pm and are taken to an interesting picture gallery for a one-hour concert performed by a small Russian choir.  I say interesting, because the large paintings contain famous people from mainly the USA, the USSR and the UK.  Even Marilyn Munroe, JFK and Bill Clinton with Boris Yeltsin are there.  Someone suggested the paintings are Russian Porn as there are few nudes amongst the politically famous.  The music is Russian classical and unaccompanied; very well done and impressive.  As the main tourist season to Russia is coming to an end quickly and the weather gets very cold, this classical choir of 5 ladies and 5 males has replaced the regular ‘folk music’ concert for us to enjoy.

Our light buffet dinner begins after 10:00pm following our 1 hour 10 minute trip back to the ship.  We chat until 11:30pm before retiring to our luxurious suite.

We are up early this morning for a 7:30 breakfast and a 8:30am departure for a tour of the city and walk aroundRed Square.  We are given our receivers that enable us to hear the commentary from our local guides.  Testing is done in the coach and we get to know

the guides and a little of the Russian language.  The traffic is thick as, and very slow.  We only see the one ‘small’ car; most cars are much larger than Italian cars back on our trip in May.  It is raining with a temperature of about 9 degrees.

Moscow is a city of 17 million residents and 4 million cars.  Road rules seem to be made up while driving.  In some ways, it is slower than any European traffic we have experienced recently.  We see many famous buildings and sites around Moscow, including the Kremlin, the Bolshoi Theatre, the KGB Building, parliament building, and many other buildings with names too difficult to spell, and equally difficult to pronounce.  Just near Gorky Park, there is the Russian version of the Columbia space shuttle that did only two circuits (I cant think of the proper term for that at present) of Earth before being brought back to become a memorial to the Russian space exploration program.  There are many multi-level apartment blocks.  It is interesting to learn that the state heats water to be piped to buildings and used as heating.

There is an extensive Metro rail system of some 300kms and 175 stations.  Some stations are up to 80 metres underground, with escalators of 130 meters. There is one complete loop of railway around the city center that takes around 30 minutes of travel time.  At most times of the day, a train comes through each 75 seconds, so there is not much time waiting for a train.  There are no benches on the stations to sit on either.  Other forms of public transport are trolley buses and the normal bus.  We only see the one pushbiker – he is game and courageous.

After a tour of the Metro, we take lunch in the Hall for Writers.  What a magnificent place for a restaurant.  Prior to the meal, we hand in our warm coats to the cloakroom to be more comfortable.  The meal is delicious – a beef stroganoff in a ‘dug-out’ whole meal bun with garnishing of tasty pickles. The afternoon is taken up with a walk around Red Square and a major up market shopping centre as well as a tour of the Cathedral of the Intercession (Cathedral of St Basil the Blessed).  The Cathedral is made up of 6 unusual spires and many small rooms.  In the central room, we are treated to some accapalla music by a quartet of men.  The acoustics were well worth a listen.  The music was slow to enable the echo not to be too messed up.  After a free-time period, we board the coach for the crawl back to our ship during peak evening traffic.  In the main street, it is legal to do a ‘U’ turn – at one point we witnessed 10 vehicles U-ing, and side-by-side, at the same point in front of us.  All the other traffic just waitied for this ‘procession’ to complete. We arrive back at our ship after the 90-minute trip.

Our evening is taken up with another sumptuous Scenic Tours meal and free time (to do this post).  I am still having trouble getting fast WiFi and so if you see any pictures in the post, unusual circumstances have occurred.