I took Russian for 5 years when I was in high school, but when my friends went off to Paris or Mexico for their French and Spanish foreign language trips, it wasn't so easy for me, since Russia was a Communist country at that time. In 1980, Bruce and I planned a vacation to Russia to see the Olympics, but it got cancelled when Jimmy Carter boycotted the games. Finally 40 years later, I got to visit Russia on a river cruise down the Volga.
We flew to St Petersburg through Dusseldorf, Germany. We took Lufthansa Airline - a new airline I've never flown before. The flight attendants seemed much more relaxed than US attendants. When the last passenger got onboard, they shut the door and started down the runway even though people were still in the aisles shoving their personal belongings into the overhead bins.
Arriving in St Petersburg was a bit of a disappointment - no onion domes like you see in all the Russian literature. We drove through a part of town that could have been Cleveland for all the difference it looked to US streets. Our boat was somewhat small (only 180 passengers), but very nice on the inside. We had our own balcony with a great view of the cities as we cruised down the river (our room was right in the middle under the Viking Rurik sign).
We stayed in St Petersburg for 3 days. On the first day we visited the Hermitage, the largest museum in the world (even larger than the Louvre). Supposedly, there are over 3 million items on display and if you looked at each one for 1 minute, it would take you 7 years to see everything. We only had a couple hours.
The floors were very impressive - many different hardwoods formed into mosaic-style patterns. There was an ATM machine next to the gift shop, so Bruce used his bank card to withdraw 100 rubles. We found out later that 100 rubles is only worth about $3.
After an early dinner back on the boat, we went to see the Russian ballet "Swan Lake." We couldn't take pictures inside, but it was a nice performance. When we returned to the boat, they gave us a "snack" - a very hearty roast beef soup they called goulash. Most of the meals on the boat featured at least one Russian dish. We tried most of them, but beets will never be one of my favorites.
We had to get up very early the next morning to catch the bus to Pushkin - the summer home of Catherine the Great (the Hermitage was her winter home). Looks a little more posh than the summer cabin we used to have at the Lake of the Ozarks.
We left so early in order to beat most of the crowds. Good thing, because by noon the place was packed with tourists. The rooms were lavishly decorated in gold leaf. I kept wondering how they kept everything free of dust.
After a quick lunch back on the boat, we drove around the city and stopped at Petrovsky Street. Most people went shopping, but I headed over to the Church of the Spilled Blood - a really incredible Russian Orthodox Church (finally got to see my onion domes). Trouble was, it was closed on Wed, so I couldn't get in to light a candle. I kept wondering where Bruce had wandered off to. Turns out he was following the wrong tour guide. Good thing he realized his mistake in time, because our tour director doesn't wait if you're late (we left 2 people at the Hermitage the day before and they had to take a taxi back to the boat).
On the third day, we crashed. It rained most of the day making it very unpleasant to walk around onshore, so instead we took a nap and I did a little painting. There's an 8-hour time difference between St Petersburg and home, and we were having a little trouble getting adjusted.
On the fourth day, we left St Petersburg and started cruising down the river. We actually sailed on several different rivers and lakes on our way to Moscow (not just the Volga), so consequently had to go through several locks each day. It's a simple process which occurs much faster than you would expect. We'd sail between two concrete walls only a few feet wider than the ship. Then iron doors would close on either end and the compartment would either fill up to raise the boat or drain out to lower the boat depending on the elevation change (usually about 100 feet in height each time).
Our first stop was Mandrogi. This little town was totally destroyed in World War II, but rebuilt in the 90's and turned into an artist colony. They only have one dock, so as multiple boats come in, they pull alongside another boat already tied up to the dock and then the people walk through the docked boat to get to the pier. We had to walk through 2 other boats when we arrived.
Mandrogi is very quaint with a decorative totem pole feel, similar to the ones we saw in Alaska (not surprising since Russia used to own Alaska). This town is known for its hand-painted nesting dolls, but since I already inherited my mom's Russian dolls, I went to the ceramic shop and bought a statue of a Russian fox.
Next stop was the pirozhki restaurant, though these were not the same kind that my grandmother used to make. They were more baked bread-like, rather than boiled. Bruce and I split one filled with cottage cheese and honey. We knew it was a good place to go, because all the crew members from the boat were in line in front of us. (Of course, at the next town we stopped at, they all ran to the Kentucky Fried Chicken.)
After a quick walk around the town (it wasn't very big), we stopped at the vodka museum. For 200 rubles each, we got to taste 8 different varieties of vodka (they had over 500 to choose from). Needless to say, we stumbled back to the boat and slept away the rest of the afternoon.
On the fifth day, we had an early morning visit to Kizhi Island and Transfiguration Church - a many domed wooden church built during the reign of Peter the Great. Supposedly no nails were used to build this church, but right now it's somewhat torn apart as it is being restored for a centennial celebration next year (lots of historic monuments were undergoing renovation so we kept seeing a lot of netting and scaffolding). The central dome is supposed to represent Jesus, and all the smaller domes around it represent the 12 apostles.
While we were on the island, we also got to see a typical Russian house for an extended family, usually about 18 people and their livestock. The cows stayed in a separate room, but the chickens lived in a pen under the dining room table (remember this is Russia and it gets brutally cold in winter). The grandmother got to sleep on a fur mat on top of the fireplace. This man was carving replacement shingles for the roof with a hand ax. With all those domes, he's got a lot of work ahead of him.
On the sixth day, we visited the Kirilov-Belozersky Monastery in Kuzino. It was a very old structure (almost a ruin), but the museum building held many different icons. Basically an icon is a religious painting on wood that is embellished with gold or jewels or some other decorative adornment. I remember learning about icons from Miss Nancy in my 2nd grade religion class - we used aluminum foil for our decorations.
We also visited a school while in Kuzino. Our tour guide is on the left. Whenever we went touring through a city, we used 6 buses. The first few days, we could pick whatever bus we wanted to get on, but then the tour guides assigned people to certain buses. Since we were almost the "youngest" passengers on this cruise, I think we were lucky to get on the A bus (I think the buses were ranked in terms of mobility with the F bus reserved for people who needed "a little extra time"). The picture below is me sitting in one of the school desks.
In the evening, we had a typical Russian dinner. I skipped the borscht - I tried a few beet dishes on the cruise, but truthfully I couldn't see swallowing a whole bowl-full of them. We tried the salmon cakes, which tasted like the ones my grandmother used to make on Fridays in Lent (like salmon from a can).
On the seventh day, we finally entered the Volga River. There is a statue called
Mother Volga marking the entrance to the river. Most people missed it, because they stayed up late for the onboard vodka tasting after the Russian dinner (I had my fill of vodka at the museum).
It was really nice having our own balcony. We sat out there and read or took pictures of the scenery. It was still summer vacation in Russia. The kids don't go back to school until Sep 1. It's a national holiday called the
Day of Knowledge (probably for weary parents to celebrate).
Later in the afternoon, we docked at a little town called Yaroslavl. Bruce and I probably could have ditched the tour bus and walked around on our own, but the tour guides always seem to include some unusual surprises. We toured the governor's mansion. The docents were in historic costumes and after the tour performed some traditional dances. So far, we've just been entertained, but this time they went looking for volunteers to join in the dancing. Bruce and I faded into the woodwork.
I finally got to light a candle in the Church of Elijah the Prophet. They were celebrating the Holy Transfiguration of Jesus Christ - a Russian Orthodox holy day. They don't have any pews in Russian Orthodox churches, because you aren't allowed to sit during services - only stand or kneel on the floor.
The local tour guide was more interested in directing people to view the river front (don't get me wrong - it was nice), but I snuck off and watched some of the church service instead.
Our last port before Moscow was Uglich. We docked an hour before the tours were to start, so Bruce and I raced off the boat and did our own impromptu walking tour. Ten days of heavy food and almost no exercise was beginning to show.
When we got back to the boat, we joined our tour for a visit to a Russian home. Our local guide (woman on the left) was a teacher who "moonlights" in the summer to practice her English. Our hostess, Ludweila (3rd from the left) was a 62-year old grandmother of 5. She made us a special breakfast of coffeecake and hot tea.
First, however, she served us "homemade" vodka and dill pickles. Her vodka (called Russian moonshine) was 50% proof - quite potent for 8:30 in the morning. It wouldn't have been so bad, but she kept toasting all of us - first to the guests, then to health, then to the hostess, etc. I remembered how to introduce myself in Russian (she didn't speak any English), but that was about the extent of what I remembered how to say.
We stopped at a local craft market on the way back to the boat and bought some handmade Russian Christmas ornaments. Bruce was happy, because he bargained with the vendor and got them to knock the price down. When we got back to the boat, they had a sail-away party on the sun deck with all kinds of Russian pastries. I didn't have my camera with me - I was too busy tasting.
We finally arrived in Moscow on the 10th day. Since we were in the A group, we got to take the Metro into town rather than ride the bus. Traffic in Moscow is HORRIBLE - like rush hour 24/7. The underground Metro stations are almost like miniature museums with statues and mosaics everywhere.
Our first stop was the Red Square. Lots of history on this site (a lot of it bad), but on this day they were actually having a horse show inside the walls. We got to see a lot of Russian students performing various stunts like riding while standing on top of the horse's back.
But when we got to St Basil's Cathedral, it truly took my breath away. Every single dome was a different design painted in bright colors. I had a hard time getting a picture of it, because the building and all its domes were so massive. St Basil's is no longer a true church, but has been converted to a museum. While most of the other passengers spent their free time running off to buy souvenirs at the GUM department store, I just stayed and admired the architecture of this building. Hard to believe something so beautiful was built by Ivan the Terrible.
In the afternoon, we stopped at a local park for a box lunch and then headed over to a concert hall for a folk festival. Almost every member of the symphony played traditional Russian instruments. This girl was playing a Russian gusli (those are strings she's plucking).
On our second day in Moscow, we went to the Cosmonaut Space Museum. US astronauts were the first to walk on the moon, but 9 years prior to that, the Russians were the first to send dogs into space. The first two that survived (were returned to Earth safely) are now preserved and on display in the museum (kind of cute, but also a little creepy). Both dogs were mutts from the pound, because they discovered that pure-breed dogs were too hyper and finicky to send into space. I can believe it after listening to stories about my niece's dogs, Lola and Khloe.
On our final day in Moscow, we visited the Kremlin. The Kremlin is actually a walled city with lots of different buildings, including their current government offices. We had to go through a security check to get into this area and the guards kept blowing whistles at people if they stepped off the sidewalks. When we got back to the boat, we had to pack up and put our suitcases outside the door, because our bus was leaving at 4:00 am to take us to the airport. On the way home, we flew Swiss Air through Zurich and into Chicago. The Swiss airport was certainly very clean (especially compared to the Moscow airport), but their planes are like sardine cans. Our little commuter plane between Chicago and St Louis had more leg room. But I can't complain too much. This was certainly one of the most memorable trips we've ever taken.
