Wednesday 9 July

By 10am this morning we arrived at Goritsy & boarded buses for a short trip to Kirillov a town of about 6,00 in winter & 12,000 in summer when city workers return to their holiday homes. Firstly we were taken through an ordinary village house as it would have been early last century. There we were offered black tea & pastry. Next we went to the Children's Arts & Crafts building. This is where children go for after school care & holiday program's. We saw various different crafts including beading, painting, lace making & weaving baskets & other items. Some children put on a performance for us - 1 played the accordion, one recited a poem (in Russian) & 2 girls sang a Russian folk song. This kind of after school care is paid for by the Government so is open to everyone. 

On to a very large 14 century Monastery much of which is rundown but is in the process of being renovated. The monastery has 10 churches & cathedrals in its grounds.

Another government program we saw was secondary students spending 2 weeks of their summer holidays working in parks weeding, raking, tidying. This type of activity was government ordained to teach responsibility & promotes respect for the environment (young people are less likely to damage what they have had to work hard at). 

At the end of the tour we were taken back to the pier & had plenty of time to wander through stalls & shops. Russian souvenir sellers in the outer ares are not too pushy which is very pleasant. 

Back on board we had lunch then attended our 4th history lecture - this time on Russia's transition under Gorbachov & Yeltsin.