Blogs from Northwest, Russia, Europe - page 8

14th/15th July St Petersburg Day One Russias most European city is the Jewel in the Baltic Crown and was Peter the Greats ‘Window on the West’. The European influence is that Helsinki and Tallinn are only a few hours away but it can take up to 9hours to reach Moscow. Needless to say the first day had the delays of passing through passport control and it seems better that you arrange tours through the Cruise because of visa restrictions. Day One Peterhof palace and Fountain gardens Day Two Catherine Palace and gardens Pictures paint a thousand words and I’ve whittled the photos down to some 30+ for the two days.... read more

SOLIVETSKY ISLANDS These are six islands located in the White Sea just 150 km from the Arctic Circle. The islands have long been used as a place of retreat and a place of exile. The Solivetsky Monastery was seated in the 15 th century. It is located on Solivaetsky Island. It was originally built as a monastery but has always had prisoners. The wall are built of hug boulders 6 meters thick and 11 meters tall. The main buildings are connected by covered walkways. The Uspensky Cathedral was built in 1551-1557, the Preobrazhensky Cathedral (1556-1564) and the Annunciation Church (1596-1601) Chu4ch of St. Nicholas 1834. There were also sleeping rooms for the songs, a kitchen and a refectory and a water mill on the premises. Many people still visit Solovetsky. There are two ferries that run ... read more

We are now home and our cruise has finished. As you will see from the info below we didn’t really have a lot of time to write of our experiences. Too many jam packed days and yet still more to see in Moscow. Russia has been fantastic and very different from my trip in 1978. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the introduction of private enterprises there have been many changes. It is becoming very westernized which means more cars, traffic jams, but there are now shops, plentiful foods and smiling people. It is very easy to get around, particularly as most signs and stores have English signs. The children learn English at school, but as with many countries, older people while they may have an understanding they do not speak it. They do ... read more

Kizhi is an island near the geometrical center of the Lake Onega in the Republic of Karelia, Russia. Lake Onega is between 31 - 127 metres deep with 1650 islands (mostly rocky outcrops). The best known island is Kizhi. The island was very prosperous from the middle ages because of the trade with timber, furs and fish. It was frequently targeted in raids but when Peter the Great established Russia's soverignity in the Finnish borderlands that the region witnessed a construction boom using the local timber. They have a very traditional method of cutting wood by cutting with axes rather than sawing believing that it closed the grain of the wood against moisture while wooden pegs and joints were used rather than nails as they were expensive. As we set off for our tour of the ... read more

Über St. Petersburg ging es für mich dann weiter nach Moskau. Kurz vor der russischen Grenze wurde es im Zug tatsächlich ganz ruhig. Die Grenzkontrolle durch die russischen Grenzbeamten erfolgte dann ganz sachlih, kühl und unfreundlich. Und schließlich kam ich in Moskau mit dem Nachtzug an, der auch in der 2. Klasse mit Tischdecken und warmem Frühstück sehr luxeriös war. In Moskau war ich zuerst so sehr von den wunderschön gestalteten Metrostationen beeindruckt, so dass ich gleich am ersten Tag auf eigene Faust eine Tour zu den schönsten Stationen auf der Ringbahn unternahm. Am nächsten Tag nahm ich dann an einem geführten, alternativen Stadtspaziergang teil, der sehr interessant war und für mich wichtige Informationen für die nächsten Tage in der Stadt enthielt. Später machte ich noch eine typische Hop-On-Hop-Off Tour für Touristen mit, um auch noch ... read more