And a couple more

Some more photos - Ballet theatre and St Petersburg. Sunset - 10.30pm

Saturday 12 July

We docked in St Petersburg just before 8am & soon after we were on the buses to do a tour of the city. This is a great way to get an overview & to see the main sights. We stopped at a number of places to get out & take photos. As with Moscow, St Petersburg is very clean with many parks & gardens. In parts it looks like Paris with similar style of buildings & none higher than 3 stories. There are a multitude of palaces as many royals & nobles had at least one if not more. Following the bus tour we did an hour long canal cruise on many of the waterways that flow through the city (often called the Venice of the north).

Again it was a beautiful sunny day & during our free time we walked around the Main Street area discovering interesting arcades & enjoying lunch (after waiting 45 minutes for it) in a street cafe.we were back on board the ship at 3.30pm to have an early dinner & rest up for our evening at the ballet!

We went to see Swan Lake performed in a small theatre (250 people) in the Hermitage which was formerly Catherine the Greats palace - the theatre was her own private one. The ballet was a wonderful experience - the principals were marvellous but maybe some of the corps de ballet could have been more polished. It was certainly exciting to see Tchaikovsky's Russian ballet performed here where it originated.

Friday 11 July

Despite the forecast of 15 degrees & rain, we awoke to another beautiful sunny morning with smooth waters & a light mist coming off the river. At 11am we docked at Mandrogi. This village has been on the river a long time but was burnt down in WW11. It was reconstructured in 1997 to become an Artisans village preserving many of the arts & crafts skills of the people of Northern Russia. Now 100 people live here permanently & 300 more come to work at Mandrogi each day.

We first went for a casual guided tour of the village then had time to try a local speciality berry pie before heading to a big pavilion for a BBQ lunch. The ship's screw had bought all the food, crockery, drinks etc ashore & presented a lovely meal of meat & salads. After lunch we had time to wander through the old log buildings to see the people painting wooden dolls & eggs, making jewellery, painting on glass, quilting, sewing, woodwork & many more. Unfortunately, we had to be back on board by 2pm so it wasn't nearly enough time. This was probably the best shopping place we had been to.

Anyway, after this we sat on our deck in the beautiful sun as we set sail, next stop - St Petersburg.

Thursday10 July

Today we didn't reach our next stop, Kizhi Island until 4.30pm so we had some time to fill in during the day, in the morning there was an hour long lecture by the Professor on President Putin. We can either go up to the lounge for these lectures & information sessions or watch them on the TV in our cabin.

In the afternoon we had a Russia Quiz for which we scored 4 chocolates, being the first ones to get our hands up with the correct answers.

Finally we went asore on Kizhi island. This area is an outdoor museum designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage site. The island is only 6kms long & 1km wide the buildings are all log & timber structures dating back several centuries. The predominant building is the Transfiguration Cathedral erected in 1714. It was built without metal nails just some made of wood. Because it has been tilting due to soft ground & not having a firm foundation, it is in the process of being renovated & stabilised. Again it was a beautiful, sunny day so we have been very blessed with the weather.

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. 

More photos