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Published: September 28th 2010
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Houses along the river
As we came closer to Moscow the houses became bigger and richer looking. Friday 10th September 2010
The time seems to be slipping away, with the scenery changing a little now we are getting closer to Moscow, the ship passing small villages every now and again. It surprised us at to how few of these we have seen on our journey. We still don't have an internet connection, Judy trying to use the wireless dongle we bought in St Petersburg on a guide's laptop as it doesn't work on Windows 7, and is not recognised on the Mac. She is getting a bit concerned as she is not able to get in touch with her students at Online Uni of Australia.
At about 10am we reached the town of Myshkin, which has a mouse as its emblem. This came about by the mice in the granary where they store the crops. We followed the guide through the town, visiting the Assumption Cathedral, the Museum of Russian Felt Boots (it really has that name) where we saw many examples of boots made of felt, before leaving as the group entered another museum.
Instead, we walked through town, found a shop where we bought some water and a delicious gingerbread roll, before looking
through a local market, returning to the ship just before lunch.
Lunch was nothing special, the fish stuffed cutlet having little in it on a bed of dry, white rice. Some of the meals have been a little ordinary, but we weren't expecting a lot before we started.
The ship had sailed whilst we were at lunch and we arrived in the large provincial village of Uglich, one of the Golden Ring cities—ancient towns that preserve the memory of Russia’s historical events. Here we didn't even join the tour group as they were touring the ubiquitous church there and Judy was anxious to log in to work to see if she was needed. Ed & Cathy joined us to look for a cyber-cafe. Whilst Cathy went inside a shop to enquire, Rags asked a couple of young guys where one was, one answering in good English with clear directions.
The connection speed of the computers was frustratingly slow, but we all managed to read our emails and Judy spent some time catching up with student queries. She couldn't do as much as she wanted as there was no wifi so that the laptop could be used, and
they didn't allow USB access to download assignments on her memory stick. Hopefully things will be better in Moscow.
We ran the 'gauntlet' of stalls back to the ship (there were 6 tied up on our return) with all sorts of souvenirs, clothes, furs, scarves etc for sale. Judy has a scarf to add to her baggage. There was enough time to sit back and have the well-deserved first drink of the day, to get the blog written up and the photos downloaded on to the laptop, before dinner at 8pm.
Saturday & Sunday 11th & 12th September 2010
Saturday was a day of travel, not stopping at any towns during the day, Moscow being our destination tonight. Judy and Cathy spent some time painting a Matrioshka doll, with great results.
We had the Captain's Dinner in the evening, with the captain moving about the dining room and toasting all the passengers. The meal was of a slightly better standard accordingly, these not a highlight of the trip even though they are adequate. Soon after dinner we had the Talent Show where groups had to perform. Some were quite talented, some ok. Our group, a mix
Smoked fish at the stall in Myshkin
I wonder how many people bought these and took them on the cruise ships? of Aussie, American, Indian & Flemish, sang a modified version of Yellow Submarine, not well but with a lot of gusto.
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