Russian ballet

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Day 1.

We awoke to yet another stunningly beautiful day. I had always imagined Russia to be Siberian with howling winds and deep snow. The port of St. Petersburg is certainly nothing like that at present.

I went for my now-usual morning swim in the early morning sunlight-which was strong enough for me not to feel cold when I got out of the pool. I fetched a cup of coffee from the aft café and took it out on deck. The port took me completely by surprise. On the one side of the ship where our cabin was situated, we could see open countryside leading to the sea. On the other was the port-and what a port. It stretches for miles and when we saw it- it was harbouring many cargo vessels. It actually looks a million miles away from ‘welcoming’ and we were glad to have selected only guided tours.

Midday. I have got fed up with noises outside our cabin at 4 every morning. Carole is convinced the nefarious crew are disposing of dead bodies. I disagree. Clearly they have a secret cache of mouldering hippos somewhere. Anyway-I have complained in a very British way. You know the kind of thing…It worked! We now have another cabin. It is an upgrade and so is bigger with an unobstructed view. Result.

Currently, we are preparing to go to the ballet, so will finish this with a report tomorrow before posting.

The ballet.

This was one of the main reasons we chose this particular cruise. Not something to be of particular interest to me, it is one of Carole’s passions. The queue to leave the ship was small and we were presented with a comfortable, air-conditioned coach-despite being told there is no air-con in Russia. I mention this as the temperature was 27 degrees-quite astounding for 7:30 pm in Russia.

The trip through the shipyard was odd…but the city is beautiful. We gawped like good little tourists and dutifully ‘ummed’ and ‘ahhhhed’ at the sites.

The ballet itself was performed in a small and intimate theatre-The Palace Theatre. We had fully expected to be daunted by the size of the whole affair, but instead were pleasantly surprised it was so small. We had excellent seats and Carole was able to sit in an aisle seat with no-one in front of her.

I know nothing about ballet (at least I know Swan Lake was written by Tchaikovsky, not Rachmaninov-as one of our fellow tourists believed) Carole informs me that the standard was incredibly high. I can’t figure how the dancers stay airborne for so long. The interval gave a chance to buy a little souvenir and it was very reasonably priced as was the program. None of the ‘£15 please’ as you expect in the UK.

Getting back onto the ship was frustrating as several tours arrived together. By this time it was 11:30 and still light. Also, still warm at 23 degrees.

I can report a good night’s sleep in our new cabin. A great relief.

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