Land of the Tsars

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Friday -The computer room on board is ajoined by a lounge where those who are not into Bingo and Ballroom dancing can retreat and listen to the trio who play classical music and other light music during the evening. Its great! I was awoken this morning by a lot of crunching from outside and through the porthole saw the scrubby banks of a river. I climbed up on to the broad windowsill and peered out only to find the tug alongside peering back in. St Petersburg. We have been moored up in the Commercial dock for some reason beside all the rusting freight containers and a forest of cranes so no chance of wandering into town for an evening out. All day we have been bussed round the city from one Imperial Palace to another which had a totally soperific effect on yours truely to the extent that I don't remember much of what we saw except a vast multicoloured church "Of the Spilled Blood" which resembled a fantastic birthday cake. Also the naval ship Aurora which fired the shot which signalled the revolution in October 1918 (I think) - after seeing all the OTT opulence at the summer palace in Pushkin this morning one can hardly blame the workers for reaching breaking point. The only very moving place for me was the chapel in the Church of St Peter and St Paul where they reburied the remains of Tsar Nicholas and his family in the 1990s- I had to move away before I got overcome.

As we are staying in port tonight they invited a troop of Russian musicians and dancers on board to entertain those of us who had not opted for the ballet. The three musicians were great - all three wearing a wide brimmed felt hat and looking ever so slightly simple they played the balalayka, both mini and maxi version and the squeeze box dextrous brillience and wit. The dancers, costumed in a different outfit for every entrance, put together some of the most wonderful dance moves which left them all woven into intricate knots out of which they skipped with the utmost of ease. It has been the most suprisingly delightful evening to round off a grockle infested day.

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