Saturday September 11, 2010: Week Two

Russian River Cruise, Week Two

Saturday, September 11, 2010: Weather, 47L, 58H, partly sunny. Today we are still on Lake Onega and we are going to visit the industrial city of Petrozavodsk. Petrozavodsk is a city of 270,000 folks and is located on 62⁰ north latitude. This is as far north as we get on our trip. The city was founded by Peter the Great in 1703 because he needed the iron from the region to make his weapons for the Great Northern War. Petrozavodsk was occupied by the Finns during WWII. We took a bus tour around the town and then we had some free time to walk along the pedestrian way constructed along the water's edge. The walk has an assortment of postmodern sculptures. Some folks took in the Karelian Folk Show but Nancy and I just walked along the lake's edge.

For dinner we had a Russian Market Buffet. It was billed as "very traditional Russian food". After dinner we watched a presentation on Russian Fairy-Tales. It was put on by the staff. It was very entertaining.

Sunday, September 12, 2010: Weather, 54L, 68H, partly cloudy. Today we visited Svirstroy a village of 1200 people. Svirstroy is located on the river between Lake Onega and Lake Ladoga. It is 150 river miles from St Petersburg. The village was built in the 1920s to provide homes for workers building a local hydroelectric plant. The village was occupied and destroyed by the Nazi during WWII. Today most of the residents work at the hydro plant or in the timber industry. We visited a local home. We had tea and a local pastry called pirozhi. After lunch aboard the boat we headed for St. Petersburg.

Monday, September 13, 2010: Weather, 50L, 61H, showers. Today is our first day in St. Petersburg. We start the day with a bus tour and visit the Peter and Paul Fortress. The tombs of all czars starting with Peter the Great are located here. In the afternoon Nancy and I took a trip to Peterhof. Peterhof is a summer palace located outside of St Petersburg. Peterhof is on the Gulf of Finland. We saw a beautiful palace with gold plated domes and the grounds had over 150 fountains. The fountains and gardens were spectacular. The Russian Czars went first class. Viewing all this wealth I was surprised that the revolution did not take place earlier than 1917. Two percent of the population enjoyed 98% of the wealth.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010: Weather, 53L, 68H, showers. Today is a heavy touring day. We start with a visit to St Isaac's Cathedral which our guide said was the third largest domed cathedral in the world. We had lunch at a local restaurant and then spent the afternoon touring the Hermitage. The Hermitage is a must see in St Petersburg. The Hermitage is made up of 7 buildings including the Czar's Winter Palace. The winter palace was the retreat of Catherine the Great. It housed her private art collection. The Hermitage houses the works of many famous artists. Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo, el Greco, Rembrandt all have work on display. The Hermitage is the most spectacular example of the wealth of the Czars.

After this busy day we head back to the boat for dinner. I had the salmon as my entree and ice cream for dessert.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010: Weather, 51L, 65H, mostly sunny. Today is my easy day. Nancy and I take a shuttle bus to downtown and walk around. We visited several stores and got a feel for the main shopping center. The area we walked around was very upscale.

Nancy and several women went to the ballet in the evening. I and several other guys sat around and drank beer. Nancy really liked the ballet and I thought the beer was good.

Thursday, September 16, 2010: Weather 48L, 61H, cloudy. This is our last tour day. In the morning we get on the bus and travel to Catherine Palace and Park. The palace and park were another example of the "spare no cost" attitude of the ruling class. We spent several hours walking around the palace and grounds. In fact by this time I had seen so much wealth that I was totally saturated.

In the afternoon we visited a music school in St Petersburg. The school is the equivalent of our high school. Our tour company Grand Circle Travel donates money to this school. We were entertained with a concert. It was very good.

Friday, September 17, 2010: Weather, who cares. We set the alarm for 0230. We have a quick breakfast and then head to the airport to catch our 0600 flight. We have layovers in Frankfurt, Germany and Chicago before landing in Cleveland at 1800. It was a long day. Nancy is too tired for dinner but Missy, AJ and I have dinner at a local pub. I have a hamburg and beer.