Russian River Cruise - Day 12 - May 23

The last of the photos from St. Petersburg, Russia. We get back to our ship in 5:00 o'clock traffic on a Friday. Somehow the logic of the planning of this optional tour escapes me, totally. I did not get a 'book' of St.P in town, the gift shop had none left. Can you believe it? They also ran out of stamps, so some of our cards will go with us to Estonia to be mailed. The service at the gift shop was awful. We are packed and are to catch our bus at 10:00 am for the drive to Tallin, Estonia, as we are booked for the Baltic Countries extension, coach tour.

At home, Denise the draperies lady came and we finalized my choice of drapery materials and bathroom stuff. She will let me know on Friday what the damage is going to be. Pat does not think the blind for the skylight is what he wants, so he is to talk to Ron the blinds guy tomorrow and they can decide what to do, if anything. When Pat got home he found that Denise had left two of her folders of samples in the driveway. Ooopps. She is to pick them up tomorrow about 9:30.

Russian River Cruise - Day 5 - May 16

Sun path from a glorious sunset.
A village was flooded in creating the Moscow Canal. This is the Towns bell tower
Cruising the River
Flares with my CS filter on a passing cruise ship
Professor Inna Gritsenko

On Day 5 after breakfast we had a safety drill. We were required to put on our life jackets and stand out in the hallway for inspection. These life jackets were under the bunk bed and were old and dirty.

At 10:00 we had a lecture by Professor Inna Grisenko: "The Russian Monarchy and its Tragedy. The first of the series of four. She is really a very good speaker and is very informative.

We sailed through the 80 mile Moscow Canal to Uglich. There was a walking tour of Uglich. Uglich is one of Russia's Golden Ring Cities. It has historical significance going back to the founding in 973. Pat went on the tour, and I stayed in, so no photos.

Our ship passes through 18 locks from Moscow to St. Petersburg. Having seen locks on our Danube River cruise in 2005, I did not feel that I had to be on deck to see too many of these locks. They take 20 minutes and actually are interesting to watch.