"The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you've got it made.” ― Groucho Marx
Date: 18 July 2017 Location: Viking Akun moored in Saint Petersburg Got up too early as usual. We are going to the Peterhof Palace, departing at 07.30. Weather again looks better than was predicted. Took about 30 minutes on the bus to get to the Peterhof Palace. Our guide was again Alexei, who has a…
Date: 17 July 2017 Location: Viking Akun moored in Saint Petersburg Another great breakfast. Wosog had pancakes and I had eggs Benedict (one egg). Weather today is pretty bad: heavy rain showers predicted. At 08.15 set off for the Catherine Palace in Pushkin, which is a small city near Saint Petersburg. The palace was almost…
We woke up to find that we had already arrived in Saint Petersburg and were moored next to another boat. It was a bit noisy for 05.00. It turned out that all 4 Viking boats that cruise in Russia were now moored in Saint Petersburg.
Date: 15 July 2017 Location: Viking Akun moored at Mandrogy (on the River Svir between Lake Onega and Lake Ladoga). We cruised overnight and arrived at Mandrogy around 09.00. There are no “compulsory” excursions today, but those who have decided to go for the banya experience (see Giving the Banya a Body Swerve) are having…
At 11.00 we both went to the third lecture on Russian History. The first of these was on the Romanov Dynasty. The second lecture was on the period from The Russian Revolution to Gorbachev. Today's lecture was given by Alexei, and it was about the period from Yeltsin to the present day. It clarified for me quite a few things.
We travelled overnight across the enormous Sheksna Reservoir. Returning from Yaroslavl involved passing back through the lock at Rybinsk. We photographed the statue of Mother Volga at the outlet of the lock.
Date: 12 July 2017 Location: Viking Akun on the River Volga on the way to Yaroslavl We are due to arrive at the city of Yaroslavl around 08.00, but I am awake at 04.00 thinking about Brexit! One of the things about cruising is that you are more or less forced to talk to people…
Date: 11 July 2017 Location: Viking Akun on the River Volga on way to Uglich. After another pleasant breakfast we assembled at 09.00 to have a 1 hour lecture on the history of the Romanov dynasty. Well done, but a lot to take in! Around 10.30 we passed the bell tower of a church that…
We headed into Moscow early this morning for a brief tour, including a number of the famous underground stations. We visited Red Square, including the GUM Store.
We had another great breakfast. Wosog tried the French toast, and I had eggs Benedict. We were going on an excursion to the Tretyakov Gallery. The weather still dull but slightly warmer and hopefully less wet than yesterday!
Random Thoughts on an Imperfect World 