No sleep in today. Up early for breakfast & 8am arrival at Yaroslavl. This town is much bigger than Uglich & quite busy. It had some lovely buildings, parks & gardens. In one park area there were floral displays depicting various events from the winter olympics. We were driven by bus around the city with numerous stops for walks & sightseeing. They have a number of parks set up as children's parks with fun things to do eg. Motorised toys to ride. We were taken to a puppet theatre but didn't see a show as the group is currently travelling through Russia during school holidays. We visited another church, a monastery, main square & town market. The food markets are very interesting but we certainly don't need any more food. Under the Soviet era many churches & monasteries were closed & some were demolished or fell into disrepair. Since1995 they are being reopened & used so there has been a turnaround in levels of Christian worship with about 27% of the population now attending church (mostly Orthodox).
Back on board by 11.45am, we set sail again. Later in the afternoon we attended a lecture by the Professor on Joseph Stalin. Along the way we go through numerous Locks so it is fascinating to watch the procedure as the boat comes into the lock at a low level, then is gradually raised by incoming water & then sails out at a higher level. Okay, better go now & find the gym - Rachel's "suggestion"!
