We are officially on our first European river cruise. The St. Petersburg to Moscow trip is one that
we had eyed in the travel catalogs for a while, but felt no urgency to book it.
That is until Thursday, August first, when Grand Circle Travel made us an offer
we couldn’t refuse. So, with a departure on August eighth, we scrambled to
apply for our Russian visas, pack, and get organized to get out of town. The
visas were delivered to us the day before our departure; everything magically fell
into place, so here we are.
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| Staying hydrated! |
The dining room here accommodates all passengers at one time.
Local foods are incorporated into the menu along with more typical cruise-type
food. We’ve had a Russian buffet, and tonight’s dinner is focused on food from
the Ukraine, and Russian foods are part of every meal. Dining tables seat 2-12
people, so you can choose just how sociable you want to be on a meal-by-meal
basis. Our standard choice is a table for six. We either seek out charming
people we have already met, join pleasant-looking strangers, or sit alone and
hope someone will join us. Nearly everyone we have met has been interesting
with plenty of travel stories, which makes sense since everyone on board likes
to travel. We have met only a few people who rub us the wrong way, but they are
easy to avoid and give us something to talk about when we’re alone. Win-win!!
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| Fancy inside, too! |
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| Russian church..fancy outside.. |
Most of the shore excursions are included in our fare, and
they have hit the highlights and “must-sees” at every port so far. As with most
cruises, optional excursions are available, but we usually use that time to
roam around town on our own, honing our independent travel skills so we don’t
lose our touch. Like the big cruise ships, the staff tries to keep us entertained,
but it is very low-key. Two days ago the evening performance was on Russian
fairy tales, and last night was folk music.
Grand Circle Cruise Line is part of Overseas Adventure
Travel, the people who took us to South America and Africa, so we trust them
and appreciate their “learning and discovery” approach to travel. We have had Russian
history lectures, cooking and craft lessons, and they do an excellent job of
insuring that we learn about the country. At one small village we split into
small groups to have tea and piroshky, pastries filled with sauerkraut or
fruit, at a villager’s home. We talked through our interpreter and were able to
spend time in her two-room apartment. Regardless of lifestyle, we are always
impressed at how much we have in common with people we meet in other countries.
The learning and discovery portion of the trip is working.
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| At Peterhof, a Versailles-like complex with 150 gravity-powered fountains. Those Tzars knew how to landscape a yard! |
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| 20 pounds of gold leaf, and YOUR ballroom could look like this! |
We have now traveled from St. Petersburg, where we spent
four days, to the small village of Svir Stroi, to Kizhi Island, to
Petrozavodsk, and are approaching Goritsy as I write this. Details don’t seem
to fit in this post, so perhaps we’ll manage to tell you more about these places
later. We’ll travel about 1200 miles in all through Russian rivers, lakes, and
canals on our way to Moscow.
In St. Petersburg our ship was docked at an inconvenient
location that prevented us from just wandering off the ship and into town
easily. The program directors were kind
enough to give us an orientation to the local bus and subway system, making
wandering on our own a piece of cake, or blini,
as it is known here. The next day, during an optional tour we chose to skip,
many of us went into town to see the sights on our own. We connected with Rose
and Jen, a mother and daughter from Florida and New Jersey, and Meredith and Ilene
from Boston, who are photographing the cruise for Grand Circle. Meredith
suggested going to a coffee shop to take a few photos, so we headed to a
charming place with a second-floor vista of the city. The tables were crowded
but we learned a life-changing travel tactic that we will share with only our
loyal readers so pay attention. Ilene told the hostess that we would just be a
few minutes because we were doing a
photo shoot for a magazine. That is the “magic sesame” line, so remember
it. We got a table, rearranged furniture, were served our beverages, and stayed
a while. Ilene took lots of pictures and had a professional camera, so we
might not pull it off with our pocket-sized point-and- shoot Lumix, but it is a
great strategy for getting a good table. It might be worth a try some day, even
if we have to invest in a second-hand broken-down camera that looks impressive.
Ilene took photos of the group as we sat and talked. Those
of you who know Roger will understand that he occasionally (always) likes to
expound, lecture, and gesture expressively when he talks, while the rest of the
group was a little more low-key. As we
stood up to depart, a local at a neighboring table beckoned us and asked, “Is
that man famous?” The resounding answer, in unison, was “NO”. He didn’t quite
accept that, insisting, “No, really, is he someone famous?” Again, the
unequivocal answer was “NO”. Finally he
asked, “Just tell me, what is his name? I will Google him.” So, ever the
helpful tourist, Linda answered, “He is Roger Mahanic from Detroit. Yes, please
Google him.”
Right now, there is a sadly disappointed Russian from St.
Petersburg, wondering why the hell ANYONE was taking pictures of that man.
Little does he know how famous and fascinating the women in that little group
are. We’ll keep that little secret to ourselves.
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| Reminder....Bocce Day is almost here. Roger thinks it is clothing optional, but you should probably wear SOMETHING. |
