ALL GOOD THINGS

21-22.08.2015

Last full day. Lovely warm weather, at leisure in morning so mainly packing and then a walk through the park on the river bank which was very pleasant and coffee in a local cafe. After lunch back into city through nightmare traffic for tour of Kremlin ( which means fortress and is quite common in russia, not unique to Moscow ).
Very interesting and not what was expected. Lots of elegant bright buildings and lots of churches which was a surprise. Very nice floral gardens and an oak tree planted by Yuri  Gagarin. Churches were stunning.
Dinner was a very joyful affair, much exchange of emails and we have an invitation to visit ?KanKun (which John may own), slightly muted in some cases by the thought of leaving the boat at 2.30am. Various coaches were destined to leave for the 2 airports  all through the night but we are lucky and are on the last coach out at 11.30. Quick turnaround for the ship as new arrivals begin with our coach picking up new guests. Leave on time after buffet lunch and use the M25 equivalent for Domodedovo airport the largest and furthest away. At 2.30 the journey took 90 mins, we take nearly 3hrs.in traffic that makes M25 look like a pussycat. Airport still under 10 year reconstruction is as bad as we have been warned but Viking reps are really excellent at shepherding their 14 charges through the chaos. ( extra busy weekend being end of school holidays) . Checked in online  last night and when reach BA  bag drop nice Russian lady says "your flight is very full we have decided to send you by bus". I look startled and start to protest . She looks puzzled and says "you don't want?" so I ask her to repeat what she said and it now comes back  as " your flight is very full, we have upgraded you to World Traveller Plus" . Result! !!.
Priority loading, lovely big seats with legroom, constant flow of drinks (although unfortunately  I do have to drive at other end) and an excellent roast lamb dinner.
So we finished in comfort and style. Through immigration  and customs and on the shuttle bus within the hour and picked up the car at the Hilton hotel without hitch.
Staying at Julian's over weekend.

An excellent holiday all round.
Viking were superb both in organisation and service. Staff were constantly cheerful and helpful and nothing was too much trouble. Guides were informative,interesting  and were eager to engage and answer questions  about life today and life under the Soviets. Modern politics were discussed openly, including Ukraine,  and Putin was criticised and praised in equal measure. The ship was elegant having been refurbished last year,had an extensive library of books on all aspects of Russia,games, a daily 4 page newspaper digest for UK,USA,CANADA & AUS.,daily crossword & sudoku sheets, reasonable wifi, good food, bottled water every time you left the ship..
I never saw the staff not smiling and whilst some tours were not as good as others they were trying to please everybody.
Our only criticism would be that the average  age meant that we had to make frequent stops for WCs which were not always readily available, and at times the walking pace was funereal which makes my hips ache... we were much more comfortable when given a chance to explore on our own and covered much more ground.
Russia was an experience. We would gladly go back to St.P and will look for a short break. Moscow will be fantastic in 2-3 years when the scaffolding is down and the roads relaid and I would like another look.
Cannot praise Viking highly enough. Great job, stress free.
THE END.

MIDNIGHT IN MOSCOW

17.08.2015

To Yaroslavl
The scenery changes, looking more prosperous along the Volga (and we have local guide called Olga). We skip visit to local home but John and Jim return with 3 1.5 lemonade bottles filled with moonshine vodka from some guys garden shed........
pretty churches
18.08.2015
To Uglich
Markets, churches and we wander off and fail to find the house of A.Kalashnikov. Weather still overcast and chilly. Onto the Moscow canal
19.08.2015
Arrive Moscow midday and city tour after lunch. Traffic as bad as St.P if not worse and we spend time in crawling. First impressions favourable although guide wastes time. Travel on metro and hop off to view amazing architecture on stations. Red Square impressive but big event at weekend means much scaffolding and chain link fencing spoils overall view but compensated by hundreds of small shacks like a german Xmas market liven everything up.
Weather now hot again. Evening concert most enjoyable back late.
20.08.2015
Happy birthday to me. Many cards and emails.
At leisure having forsaken museums to do own thing. Viking bus drops us off in Red Square we head to Lenin's mausoleum which is only open 4 days a week 10-1.
Queue 1/2 hour then get to see all the tombstones in the wall, every leader except Kruschev (didn't die in office ). Big bust of Stalin.  Also Yuri  Gagarin. Then into crypt. ...pitch dark, black marble,stairs impossible to see,no stopping, file round embalmed body in open casket in total silence. Absolute amazing experience even GF moved.
Once back out in RSq we head to Kazan  Cathedral  and light candles for Valery on anniversary of death.....she loved a visit to Moscow so it seemed appropriate. ..couldn't get to a working church yesterday so only 12 hours out.
Coffee  on terrace of Bosco Cafe outside GUM store opposite Lenin's tomb costs arm and leg as we imagine him spinning in grave. Deliciously ironic. GUM is a monument to capitalist conspicuous  consumption.  Wonderfully over the top.
To lunch at Dr.Zhivago in the hotel National where Lenin used to stay and Trotsky had rooms. Now chic and elegant top spot. Magnificent  lunch amongst Moscow mafia businessmen and ladies who lunch (felt slightly underdressed but when you're 70 you can do that).
Walk to Bolshoi for GF then tackle the metro system . Got lost then recovered then got lost then found the right line to Maryskaya station which is amazing art deco wonder. Metro back to pier and found lovely local market as we exited  Metro with liquor store. Arranged to dine tonight with John Diane Jim & Kathy  so intended buying champagne on boat ($170 moet & chandon  nv seeming a bit steep I was going to opt for the Russian spkling at $ 25 so a liquor store seemed provident.....long story but ended up with a bottle for 265 rubles which is about $4.50..........
However when we got back to boat there was a very nice bottle of champagne in the room courtesy of Viking with a lovely card from the management.........so we took that down to dinner. ......
And John and Jim produced a 1.5 litre bottle of moonshine with a picture  of John outside on his balcony banging on the door to be let in (see previous post)which they had taken and the reception staff had printed off for them........amazing effort on their part and given a bit more  notice would have had my face superimposed. So after the champagne shot glasses appeared and the first of many toasts, followed by the appearance of staff bearing cake the GF had organised with kitchen and mass singing.........loved it!!!!!!!! Said I didn't want a fuss........
It may have been fortunate that at 9pm we had to assemble for Moscow by night tour or we might all be blind by now.
Moscow at night is unforgettable.
We had 31/2 hours by coach and boat which were wow! Thousands  of buildings  old and new are illuminated  ( subsidised by city council)......and the reconstruction in the last 20 years and most recently make it the most modern city I've seen. It's like London Paris and new York all in one. Back to ship 12.45 and more toasts mooted but vetoed  and so to bed....wonderful day.

MONKS & SCHOOLS & VODKA

16.08.2015

Across the White Lake (confused me terribly by constantly referring  to it as the White Sea) which has to be the worst named lake in Russia, being an extremely nasty brown colour. It is not on the list of largest lakes either but you can't see the shores from the middle.
We dock at Goritzy  and get the buses to the Kirillo Belozersky monastery, the oldest  fortified monastery standing. Magnificent collection of 16th c icons.
We have local guide Natalya who is both interesting and pretty, and takes us to the local school. Although it is  holiday time pupils have been drafted in to explain the education  system to us, sing us a song and try to sell us some things they made in handicraft lessons. Capitalism is in safe hands here. It's not so bad as it sounds as the 15yr.old young lady who addressed our group was very articulate and spoke excellent English and it was very interesting with a lively q&a session.
The evening was much enlivened by an optional Vodka Tasting ($18). The session was led by 2 young ladies from the hotel management,  Anastasia & Marinna, who I awarded honorary membership of the bteam after an astonishing display of their capacity for vodka, including how to drink shots without touching the glass with your hands.
We had all expected a serious lecture on the various types and and how to distinguish between the different types of potato. What we got was 2 laughing young ladies having fun and telling jokes.
The idea was to taste 6 types .....no spitting it out and large double shot glasses filled to the brim. When we'd done that they asked which was your favourite and kept refilling the glasses and proposing toasts so it all got very jolly...fortunately we had a handout with tasting notes so I have some  vague idea about what we were doing. Actually no I don't. And my head hurt this morning but Anastasia and Marinna looked far to chirpy at breakfast.

UP NORTH & ALL AT SEA

14/15.08.2015
From St.P we first head east into lake Ladoga then north to Kizhi.
The lake is the largest in Europe and our night time crossing is rough. Things start flying round the room at 4am and requiring attention and deliberations as to the advisabilty of putting on life jackets (we have had a drill and inspection so know how to). Decide to trust the captain and go back to bed. Ship doesn't sink....It was originally  built to cruise the Black  Sea so is up to the challenge and things calm down when we enter the next  river.
After lunch we stop at Mandrogy which is best avoided. A purpose built 1996 'authentic village' or tourist trap solely concerned with selling Russian dolls and other 'craft' items to passing cruise ships. Disappointing apart from the complimentary champagne and vodka as we sail away.
We are heading north and weather has deteriorated and temperature dropped. We cross another  lake, Onega which is much calmer and only the second largest lake in Europe and arrive on Kizhi island on Saturday  morning. At 8.15 am we assemble on quayside in squally drizzle for walk to v.old wooden churches built without nails. Very impressive with 22 domes, v.old icons and nice singing from the monks. Shame about the weather. Also real preserved houses which we have local guides to explain . Winter lasts about 5 months with temps down to -35 and surrounding lakes freeze to a depth of 2 metres and daylight only a few hours. Tell them they should move south but I don't think they understand concept.
Our dining companions continue  to delight. Ed is a nuclear physicist, was sent to study in Moscow and became an Arms Control Inspector after the SALT talks. Now trains and advises other inspectors. Fund of stories but he'll  probably have to kill us .
We are very friendly  with a quartet of  John Jim Diane and Kathy from Texas who love our accent and are the bteam and have hip flasks.
We are now into lecture mode whilst sailing.....The Russian lessons drag but the History of the Romanovs  sends a large number to sleep with much snoring and digging  in the ribs by spouses....All you need to know is that they all killed their fathers/sons/husbands/brothers /uncles and it's a wonder it took till 1917 to kill them off.
The boat now enters locks as we head south to the Volga'-Baltic canal. Massive locks that take no more than 15 mins to transit.

Continued

The trouble is there is so much going on that I am way behind with this.
The Gf managed to break our cabin safe so badly that an engineer with a toolbox had to be summoned after the the normal electronic resetting gismo proved ineffective.
She followed this by effectively locking us out on the balcony at 10 pm after having been warned that for security the sliding door to the balcony could not be opened from the outside if it was allowed to close with the handle in any postion other than upright. We avoided having to spend a stormy night outside whilst crossing lake Ladoga,the largest in Europe only by the appearance of our neighbours on their balcony and handing them our room card which I always carry.......but I am getting ahead of myself.
Last day in St.P was a Morning  trip to the Peterhof  palace on the shores of the gulf of Finland,the czars summer palace. Very fine palace, but spectacular  fountains, gravity fed by lakes 2miles away. Big switch on ceremony at 11am every  day with music. Lovely gardens with fantastic  fountains at every turn.
Return to ship delayed by 2 ladies getting lost and requiring  search parties from viking support staff who accompany every outing. 35 mins late meant hurried lunch before next trip to see St.P from the waterways ending with visit to Church of the Spilled Blood which was a great memory to finish with.....an amazing multi domed church,the interior of which is covered from floor to ceiling in magnificent  mosaics.
Food is good with good choices.
Breakfast is anything you could want with much cooked to order but we have now opted for the Panorama bar continental breakfasts on our top floor which has great views has only been discovered  by a select few.
In true b team tradition I decided that our fridge and balcony required beer,preferably Russian  and set off one afternoon on a foraging expedition  having learnt from the bar staff that beer was 'peevah '.
Careful observation on our coach outings had pinpointed what might be a general store about a mile away so I thought  it worth a try.
On the boat beer& wine are free with meals in plenty but otherwise a beer is $3.50 and I reckoned it could be bought for less. The store  I had noticed was indeed a grocers and the first thing I saw was a fridge full of beer. Followed by  shelves of beer and then more fridges of beer ....... A very nice man seemed to enquire if he could help so I asked for peevah and being adventurous tried to suggest it should be Russian. ...and was taken round the corner to a huge fridge full of beer of which Balticca seemed to be the top brand. I indicated that 12 cans would be good and he pointed to the labels which were numbered 1-9 and hovered at no.7. Seemed reasonable ,at 60rubles since we are working on 100rubles = £ 1.20.
Turned out that the numbers indicate strength and no.7 is 5.5% so 72p for a 500ml can seems ok.
So my balcony is complete.
At 7pm we set sail at last for Moscow. ..champagne,vodka and canapés as we left the city.

ST.PETERSBERG-3HARD DAYS

11-13.08.2015

The operation is extraordinarily slick and professional. There are 201 people on board the boat which has capacity for 208 so almost full and needing 6 coaches at a time. Each day there are tours included and optional extra tours so they have to move a lot of people about ....and there are 2 other viking ships in the dock each on a different  schedule.
So on Tues morning our first tour to Catherines Palace left at 08.15 which was a bit early...The problem appears to be that we are about 30 mins away from city centre but it can take up to an hour in the constantly bad traffic.  Palace v.interesting : we have opted for bus 3b (b for bow didgeridoo so far doesn't get lost) which has Natasha as the guide,a very efficient 65 yr old lady who spent all her working life until the 1990s with Intourist. A terrific  guide, extremely knowledgeable and happy to talk about her life, the changes she has seen and life in modern Russia.
Back to the boat for lunch then straight  off for a tour of the city. Lovely place, elegant buildings, horrendous traffic. Back to the boat and dinner at 7. Seating is open plan,tables of 2,4 or 6 so you get to move around a lot. Everybody so far excellent company. The Americans had journeys of between 10-17 hours to get here with 2 or 3 changes and reconnecting with baggage is optional. Form filling at airport took 2 hours and was unhelpful but viking take over when they finally got to the boat.
I have a kindred spirit in Duncan an English man who lives in Washington; he decided that the wine wasn't flowing fast enough so procured a bottle of red from the sideboard and topped us both up to the horror of the waiting staff.....but now we don't have to worry at all and are well looked after...
Wednesday  - we had put our names down for the extended tour of the Hermitage (9hours and an extra $148 each!) but didn't make the cut as it was restricted to 90.
After a very long day on Tuesday  we weren't  that bothered as the regular Hermitage  visit was still going to be 5 hours so when we got a phone call at 07.00 to say that we were lucky enough to be bumped up the waiting list and would we please be ready to leave at 08.00 we declined as.   we hadn't had a cup of tea yet let alone breakfast. So we set off the H at 10.00 and got back 17.00  and that was more than enough esp as we had to have dinner and then be ready to leave for the ballet at 19.00.
The H is as fantastic as it said to be but the crowds are overwhelming and everything was difficult and tiring. It's an awesome place and huge.
The ballet,Swan Lake,
was in the small theatre in the Hermitage  and never having been to a ballet, I have to say I enjoyed it(despite the heat)
tbc......

RUSSIAN ROULETTE

Adventures on the waterways of the Czars

9-10.08.2015

After 6 months of anticipation, we finally set off for our 70th birthday extravaganza.
First to the Hilton Heathrow T5 as 15 days of car parking is included in the price....A nice if expensive meal in the restaurant followed by a relatively early night. Up at 6.00 and caught the 06.43 shuttle to the airport. Had checked in online so soon dropped bags and cleared customs....minor delay  as Russian visas have to be checked by a Russian speaker...and a hearty breakfast as didn't know  where next meal coming from.
Plane left from A zone gate which meant we did not have to use underground link to zones B or C which take up to 20 mins to reach so that was a big bonus. Left on time at 09.20 and routine flight just under 3 hrs. Snack meal of a croissant sandwich at 11am.
Landed St.Petersberg 14.30.
BA had loaded our bags and the Russians  unloaded them and we found them unlike others we came across later. After clearing immigration courtesy of a pleasingly stereotypical grumpy unsmiling Russian female officer  Viking were in high visible mode and relieved us of all baggage quickly and painlessly and whisked us out and onto to a coach along with 50 or so mainly Americans before we could blink. Weather very warm  and sunny. 40 minute ride into the city and the Viking marine terminal where 3 ships were tied up together,all leaving on different  days,so as was nearest the dock as we would not be leaving until Thurs night.
Registration was quick and a buffet lunch available which was  excellent as the GF does need regular feeding. We have an excellent cabin with large veranda and lots of space. A briefing at 17.00 which went on a bit but the staff are so enthusiastic it makes you smile. The guests are 70% American and so far have been great company.
The beer on board is Baltica about which more later. Wine is free with meals and having established a rapport one's glass is kept replenished by charming young ladies who smile a lot......food is excellent,fresh and plentiful. After such excitement..an early night.