Russian River Cruise - Day 9 - May 20

Yesterday we sailed from Kizhi Island at 8:00 p.m. We arrive at the village of Mandrogi at 11:00 a.m. where everyone goes ashore for a picnic and walk or shopping. Pat says the lunch was delicious. I am still ill, and stay on board. We sail from the village at 2:00 p.m. This evening there is the Captain's farewell dinner.
Information from the Uniworld pamphlet of the day:
Svir River: stretches for 215 Kilometers through northern forests below Karelia, connecting Europe's two largest lakes, Onega and Ladoga. The Svir landscape, rugged and majestic, cannot help but entrance the shipboard observer. At times, the banks take on the form of reddish, forested precipices, while at others, they slope smothly into green marshes. Ever since the first settlements appeared along the river over 5000 years ago, the region has been considered severe and wild. The river depth reaches 5 meters in autumn and closer to 10 meters in Spring. The river usually freezes from December to April, but under warm conditions may not totally solidify. From the water, local fishermen reel in salmon and trout.
Lake Ladoga: One of the most beautiful and picturesque places in the Northern part of Russia is the area of Lake Ladoga. It occupies the territory of 7000 sq. miles. There are more than 650 islands. The deepest spot is about 670 feet. Its water is famous for its clarity and freshness. 32 Rivers drain their waters into Lake Ladoga and only one - the Neva river flows out. The lake is rich in fish. There are 58 different kinds of fish here. The most numerous are: trout, Baltic sturgeon and Baltic salmon.
Neva River: The voyage by river ship between St. Petersburg and Lake Ladoga is quite scenic, as Neva boasts some dramatically high banks (between 6 and 9 meters) and a width varying from 250 to 1,300 meters. Within 25 kilometers of the St. Petersburg city limit the river landscape comprises suburbs and villages.

Russian River Cruise - Day 8 - May 19

Russian River Cruise - Day 8 - May 19

While we were at docked at Goritsy we were on the sheksna River. We sailed at 2:00 pm with the third lecture of the series with Professor Inna Gritsenko "The Anatomy of Russia's Economy" at 5:00 As we cruised we went through a large lock. As we do not have a map of the route, I am not sure where we were at this time.
On the morning of the 19th we are on Lake Onega. Lake Onega is the second largest lake in Europe and fed by 58 rivers. It has 1369 Islands. We dock at Kizhi Island at 4:00 p.m. for a walking tour of Kizhi open air museum of wooden architecture. The tour includes visits to the Intersession Church, peasants' houses presenting the 19th centure life style, household areas and agricultural tools. The highlight of the tour is the Transfiguration Cathedral, build tin 1714. Thirty thousand shingles on twenty-two separate cupolas on five tents compose the ascending nest. The shingles are made of aspen wood. We are treated to a rendition of the award winning bell ringer. A very nice 2 hour tour with a very good guide. The murphy's law of this day, was we were waiting in our cabin for the announcement of the tour... they got too busy to announce it they said... when we finally went up to the deck... and found that every one else had gone already.

I did quite a lot of gardening today. Mowed the lawns and began the clipping of the final little 30 foot hedge of a small honeysuckle. Also cleaning up the thyme bed in front of this hedge and clipping back the white daisies which have really been rather lovely. There is hoards of clover in the thyme. I am thinking of putting down landscape fabric and starting over with the thyme bed, as it is pretty difficult to eradicate that clover. Maybe I should save the pink achillea and just round-up it all, and then start over with thyme. Will think on this some more. I found it very hot, and no wonder... it was 27 degrees out and I was sweltering under the direct sun from 2 to 4 o'clock. After supper I went out and finished weeding the new little bed and the stone path. Now, I need 5 or 6 more flat rocks to finish that path to the side walk... maybe I will find some in the pond, as I have not cleaned it out for a while and I do believe some rocks have fallen in. The pond area and the Japanese garden need weeding, as the violets are getting out of hand, and perennials need dead heading. You sure can see that I am 2 months behind in the care of the garden.