Is That Man Famous?

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.

Staying hydrated!

A bit of basic info about this tour: This ship, the Rossia, carries about 200 American passengers and has a crew of about 100 Russians. It is rather large for a river ship, but the size is the norm for Russian ships. Passengers are divided into five groups, each with their own program director, which makes daily shore excursions manageable. We are in the orange group (the cool kids) and follow Katya’s orange flag around as we listen to her commentary on our headsets. You might think we look like a bunch of losers, but we’ve learned to embrace our sheep-like behavior and are still cool in our own minds.

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!!

Fancy inside, too!

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.

 

At Peterhof, a Versailles-like complex with 150 gravity-powered fountains. Those Tzars knew how to landscape a yard!

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. 

Reminder....Bocce Day is almost here. Roger thinks it is clothing optional, but you should probably wear SOMETHING.