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Published: September 28th 2010
Wednesday 8th September 2010 By breakfast time the ship was tied up to the jetty at the island of Kizhi, which is near the centre of Lake Onega. By the time we disembarked several other ships had tied to us. A tour guide was allocated and we set off along a path to several interesting buildings in the distance. These we found were several old churches, a house in which the original settlers would have lived in the 19th century, as well as a smithy and a flour mill. These had all been restored and all of the building we saw were set on a museum reserve. The whole town is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
We eventually had enough information on the area and as we needed some exercise went off walking down the track towards the village. After a good 20 minute walk we still hadn't reached it (later found out we were just around the corner from it) so we turned around and then took a well-used track back to the boat.
By the time we returned some boats had already left, we not due to go for another hour. As it would then be
lunchtime we went to our cabin for a short rest, only to have Cathy at our door with a glass of liqueur for each of us. She & Ed had bought this at the shop by the quay. Ed then had us come to their suite for a pre-lunch vodka - Rags reckons he could be led astray by him!
A tasty 3 course lunch followed, soup then Judy having a vegetarian eggplant+zuchinni dish, Rags a Spag Bol. followed by a dessert & coffee. After 2 brisk laps of the boat a little snooze was well-deserved. The scenery changed in that suddenly we were in open water, Lake Onega, the land so far away we could have been out on the ocean.
A visit to the Bridge was an interesting diversion in the afternoon, where the captain explained how the ship operated. He has been on the ship for 26 years, first as the navigator then working his way up to captain. He lives aboard with his family for 5 months of the year.
A Russian Tea Party was on the schedule this afternoon but when we got there the room was overpacked, it taking some time
to get a cup of tea and one of their pies. We stood at the rear of the room for a short time before giving up and taking our tea back to Ed & Cath's room.
Thursday 9th September 2010 Today started with a briefing on what to expect when we get to Moscow with information sheets on the sights and how to travel the metro handed out. From this discussion we more or less decided that we would take the included tours but go our own way for the optional ones. This would give us a chance to see the major sights with the group and then concentrate on the others depending on our personal preferences.
At 1400 we berthed at the village of Goritsy where we trudged, with everyone from the ship, through the nearby streets until we came to the Convent of Resurrection. Here, the nun in charge gave a uninspiring history of the nunnery, interpreted by our tour leader, for a solid 40 minutes, after which we were allowed into the front room which was set up asa gallery for religious paintings as well as a shop for trinkets. From there we were
taken to a building next to the church, which was covered in scaffolding, and given a cup of tea and some eats.
The group was then taken to a local house owned by the town vet where we saw how the average person lived. The house was colourfully painted outside, and even though by our standards small, comfortable and liveable inside. As we have seen everywhere in Europe, the place was spotlessly clean.
We peeled off the group at this stage and went with Ed and Cath to see more of the village itself and to check out the 3 stores there. These were obviously there for the tourists, being so closely grouped together with similar items for sale, but the prices were reasonable to us for drinks and nibbles. We restocked the essentials! On rejoining the group we toured through a school of about junior high school level. From what we could see they had classes of about 15-20 pupils. The computing room was proudly shown to us by our guide - 8 desktops! This still gave about a 2:1 ratio for the small classes. One thing that differed from our schools was the general tidiness and
lack of graffiti, schools appearing to being valued more than ours.
A pirate theme greeted us on the return to the ship, the crew all being dressed up, there being a sense of fun around. There were games of some sort on the upper deck, Ed being 'captured' and Cathy having to perform to gain his release. Rags competed in a relay where members had to alternate in pouring a beer, drinking it, and then an almond being eaten before it started again. A bit of fun which continued into the evening with a light-hearted evening meal.
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Rod Murtha
non-member comment
Greetings Comrades
Hi guys, your adventure seems to be going well. It looks a little chilly though. Is your boat similar to those in the photos? They look impressive. The general feeling from the photos is that the locals seem to be relatively poor and the lifestyle ansd towns relatively basic. Rags, a bit more enthusiasm toward the tour guides would be nice,and remember no complaining Comrades as Siberia is very closeby. All is well at this end, Spring has sprung with temps in the mid to high 20's. School holidays have begun and the renno is inching forward. I probably will have a new car by the time you return. Maybe a landrover Freelander. I am looking forward to the update from Moscow. Keep up the good work and the occasional Vodka.