Uglich

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Sep 11
Yaroslavl was very quiet. There was hardly any traffic for a city if 600,000. We visited a couple of churches and then at 5 there were special services in every church for the victims of the air crash. There is talk of the corruption with technical checks for aviation similar to the tourist ship that sank a few months ago.
The town has a nice feel to it as it’s quite an educational center 4 universities, many colleges, academies, etc. We saw several wedding parties. I actually had an excellent cappuccino and a truffle chocolate in a café here. It’s a little weird now though to have someone smoking in a building. Russian men especially smoke a lot and cigarettes are very, very cheap in Russia. Our city tour guide was a riot – a teacher trying to make extra money. Here are some of her quotes and jokes:

Son- Dad what kind of girl should I marry?
Dad- Marry a girl who has the same views and beliefs as we do.
Son- Why would I marry someone who thinks I’m a shmuck?

Dad, what is the greatest happiness? Son just get married then you’ll know what the greatest happiness was.

The person who said money can’t buy happiness doesn’t know how to shop.

Today we had to get up early as we arrived in Uglich at 7am and we were on a walking tour by 8:15 am. We visited 3 small churches and had a wonderful a cappella choir sing to us. I bought the CD since it was our last choir we’d see and I had resisted the other 3 times. Coming out of one of the churches the stairs were slippery and narrow – Velcro was directly in front of me – wisely I moved to the opposite handrail and waited until she was down. Then just a few minutes later I stepped backwards to take a photo and of course bumped into her. I hope she has no plans to hike in France after the cruise. Looked at enameled watches, cheap vodka, woolen vests, wooden Santas, shawls and tablecloths. Only bought 2 out of those 6. We are now sailing for Moscow. We’ve had fantastic lectures on board. Who’d have thought I’d ever sit through a lecture on the Soviet Union, Gorbachev, and Putin. Tonight is the talent show night and Marilyn and Deb are upstairs practising their parts. Ross hung around hoping to get a part but nyet.

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