Fun Club Travel has recently returned from a river cruise in Russia. Led by Fun Club leader, Joey Parrott, the group of 19 travelers from Dalton and Chatsworth flew into Moscow and boarded the M/S Litvinov for their nine-day cruise from Moscow to St. Petersburg.
During the first two days in Moscow, tour members rode to the Kremlin on the Metro, known as the “underground palaces” of Moscow because the subway stations far below the streets of the city are filled with statues, mosaics, and ornately decorated marble archways. At the Kremlin, the group saw the huge Tsar Cannon and Tsar Bell and, above the wall, the many gold onion domes of the five cathedrals within the complex. In the Armory Museum, they viewed the crown jewels, Fabergé Eggs, and the armor, clothing, and carriages used by the Russian monarchs. At nearby Red Square, they saw St. Basil’s Cathedral, Lenin’s Tomb, and GUM (the State Department Store).
An optional tour included the Cathedral of Christ the Savior and the New Maiden Cemetery where Russian writers Dostoyevsky and Chekhov are buried along with Khrushchev and Yeltsin, who were out of favor and not buried in Red Square with other Soviet leaders. At a stop on Arabat Street in the shopping district, some tour members visited the Moscow McDonald’s for a milkshake and a Coke, successfully making their purchases with broken English and Russian along with lots of hand signals. That night the group enjoyed the antics of trained dogs, cats, monkeys, bears, snakes, and birds at the New State Moscow Circus.
On the third day, the riverboat left Moscow to sail along the Volga-Baltic Waterway, which traverses six rivers, three large lakes, and several large reservoirs. The ship went through sixteen locks during its journey toward the Baltic Sea as it was raised and lowered to accommodate the different sea levels of the waterway during the nearly 300-mile journey.
While sailing down the river, tour members enjoyed classical music concerts, a Russian tea party, Russian language and history classes, lectures on Matryoshka dolls, lacquer miniatures, and Russian costumes, a tour of the Captain’s bridge and the engine room, and a vodka tasting. Stops at four small villages along the way gave them a taste of rural Russian life.
At Uglich, the group toured the Cathedral of the Resurrection with its five huge green domes that stand in contrast to its stark white walls. They also toured the Church of St. Dmitrii of the Blood. In Goritsy, they toured a monastery built in 1544 by the aunt of Tsar Ivan the Terrible. At both stops, the group was entertained by male choirs.
At Kizhi Island, located in the northern end of Lake Onega, the second largest lake in Europe, the group saw the Transfiguration Cathedral, an architectural wonder built in 1714 with its 22 onion-domed cupolas, some reaching 121 feet into the air. Originally built without nails, the cathedral is made of aspen wood that seems to change color as the light of dawn or dusk hits it. Nearby is the Intercession Church built in 1764 and filled with numerous colorful icons. Just down the path from the churches is a family house-barn that demonstrates the living quarters of the residents and their animals in this remote Russian area that is surrounded by ice in the large Lake Onega four to five months every year.
At Mandrogi, a small village recently created as a tourist attraction, the log structures house many shops, a vodka museum, and demonstrations of the various crafts that produce the lace, wood carvings, and other items sold in the shops. The group enjoyed a Russian barbeque lunch in one of the pavilions in the village.
The last stop on the cruise was St. Petersburg. Founded in 1703 by Peter the Great, St. Petersburg sits on the Neva River that is frozen approximately six months of every year-a fact the tour members found surprising since the temperatures were well into the high 90’s during their visit.
The first day in St. Petersburg included a tour of the city and a trip 19 miles west of the city to tour the Peterhof Park and Palace on the shores of the Gulf of Finland. This huge 25,000 acre complex has 17 waterfalls, 142 water jets, 66 fountains, and 30 gilded statues. Built to commemorate the Russian victory over Sweden in the early 18th century and designed to resemble Versailles, Peterhof (which means “Peter’s court”) has its own Hall of Mirrors that reflects the power and wealth of the monarch.
The following morning the group toured The Hermitage, whose art collection is second only to that of the Louvre in Paris. Housed in the ornate Winter Palace in the heart of St. Petersburg, the art ranges from early Egyptian to the 19th century Impressionists. That afternoon the group journeyed to Pushkin, 16 miles south of St. Petersburg for lunch at a Russian restaurant and a tour of Catherine’s Palace, a stunning picture of opulence with its electric blue, white, and gold facade. Inside is the Amber Room whose walls are lined with amber panels using nearly a ton of stone (technically, petrified sap). The Palace also has its Great Hall, lined with mirrors and windows to imitate the Versailles Hall of Mirrors.
Optional trips in St. Petersburg included a Folklore Show in the Imperial Anichkov Palace, the ballet Swan Lake at the Palace Theatre, and an evening canal tour of the city.
Enjoying the Russian cruise were Joey Parrott, the leader, Angie Johnson, Sally Butler, Mary Ann Butler, James and Jane Adams, Carolyn Luffman, Deborah York, Randall and Linda Morrison, Robert and Dorothy Weathersby, Kelly and Flora Caldwell, Hannah Pike, Roland and Sara Harbin, and Tom and Jerri Phipps.