Down the Volga to St. Petersburg

We have been blessed by the sunny skies. Normally at this time of year it is quite damp and perhaps because of our visits to the many churches, we have been blessed accordingly.

The next week will take us down the Volga to St. Petersburg, passing and stopping at numerous ports along the river. The ship will be raised by six locks, then lowered again by another six as we make our way to St. Petersburg on the Bay of Finland. 

Towns along the river had been flooded during the Stalin era to make way for hydro electric projects and in the process, numerous church steeples are visible peering above the the water level. Over the first three days we have made stops in Uglich, Yaroslav and Kuzino along with some great chamber music and ball room dancing as our travel companion takes as pin on the dance floor. Click on Tri Recital or Ball Room Dancing or our travel partner Shirley doing a pirouette Shirley Pirouette


The predominant focus has always been that of church and cathedrals as are palaces of the 18th and19th centuries. After the second day I really start to get a feeling as for why I am here. I say to Jennifer that I am really starting to enjoy the trip. She asks if it is the ship or the destination and without hesitation I reply it is the destination. We have been visiting small to larger communities and the special feeling one gets when discovering a new destination, really starts to kick in. The small wooden gingerbread houses are here and so are the women dressed in traditional costume with many of the older women wearing head scarves. I know now why I am here. And I might say, complete with chime ringing. See my video at Bell Chiming Many of the medieval towns bring the imagination into full view. The terrific lectures on the trip have heightened the experience and as you place yourself in the heart of a medieval town, one can see the Czar and Czarina leading a service in one of the many ornately decorated onion domed cathedrals.

Evidence of Lenin and Stalin is everywhere as are the hammer and sickle and once again when you immerse yourself in a town square, you can feel the history come to life. We see evidence of past communist and socialist ideals. The local farmers markets are a necessity to survival as are the many home gardens.  From revolution, to communism, to socialism, and now capitalism, society is evolving. Formerly the USSR and now Russia, things are getting better but it looks like there is away to go yet. Different regions are gaining their autonomy but it is a slow progression.