Rollin', rollin' on the river

Our days since leaving Moscow have consisted of rolling on the Volga River and having many ship activities, getting at least one land excursion each day. Some of the on board activities have included: reviews of Russian history, vodka tasting, basic Russian phrases, info on Russian handicrafts,  Russian cuisine, etc. The weather has been foggy in the mornings and mostly clear and mild during the day.  Low to mid 70's during the day. We travel through several locks on this cruise.

Here are some photos from along the Volga River and its tributaries.

One of many locks our boat travels through

Food

Kiev, especially,  had wonderful fresh fruits and veggies.   It's known as the bread basket of the country. Tomatoes and cucumbers especially. There are lots of hearty vegetable soups.  The best mushroom soup I've ever eaten was at  Moscow's Hard Rock Cafe. Food prices in the towns are not expensive.  I have noticed that the quality of beef and pork is not as high as that at home.
Breakfast is always on board. There is a lovely buffet and nice daily specials.
Here are some photos of food served on board.

A  menu for a "Traditional Russian dinner"

Wrapping up Moscow

Asia, our guide, tells us that Russians believe that brakes and seatbelts are for cowards.That is abundantly obvious when you're watching traffic in downtown Moscow. Another bit of important trivia is that the average temperature in Moscow is below freezing.

For my friends of education, here are a few tidbits of information you might be interested in. When a baby is born , it is registered in a national registry .  Six years later,  when the child is expected to begin school, authorities  check to make sure it is attending school. Russians are very proud of the fact that every child goes to school from ages 6 to 17.  Public education is free. College must be paid for unless the student has been deemed gifted. At Moscow University 70 percent of the students pay their own tuition . 30 percent have seats that are given to them as gifted students.

Most schools have two sessions of classes. A morning session and an afternoon session. Grades one through four go to school four hours a day Monday through Saturday. Grades 5 through 12 go to school 5 hours a day Monday through Saturday. There are three months for summer break.

Here are some other highlights of the last couple of days.

Fast food restaurant

Moscow Circus

 This is the entrance to the Moscow Circus.  No photos are allowed  inside. The performance was wonderful.  All large cities in Russia have a special building for their circus.


 The following photos were  taken inside the Kremlin walls.  It was eerie being there. Kremlin in Russian means "fortress".  All old Russian towns had/have a Kremlin. 

Building on the left is where Putin's offices are.  He's helicoptered in to work to avoid even worse traffic in Moscow.

Armory inside the Kremlin

Khrushchev's grave: and interesting mix of  black and white

Moscow days 3-4

It's about midnight on day four of our stay in Moscow. The last 2 days we've packed in lots of different sites that Moscow has to offer tourists.

Some of you asked what the boat is like. This boat is owned by Grand Circle Tour Company.   It can accommodate up to 200 passengers. We have a hundred and eighty eight on this trip. The passengers are divided into different group of about 25 to 30 each. When we go out on excursions we have our own bus and tour guide.  We also have individual local guides for specific places each day.  The most important part of the team as far as I'm concerned is the bus driver.  You haven't seen traffic until you've seen Moscow traffic. There are seven lanes all going the same direction. But the lane markers seem to be only suggestions and people weave in and out of them at a moment's notice. He'll definitely deserve the tip we give him at the end of our stay in Moscow!

Tomorrow we begin the actual cruising part of the trip.  We'll see what kind of Internet connection I can get then.

Our room on board

The dining room

One of two bars

Our land transportation

Moscow day 2

We've had a really busy day and it's only 4:30 p.m.!  After breakfast we boarded the bus for a tour of downtown Moscow. It was really interesting to see many of the sites we've only read about in our history. Red Square, the Kremlin, the American Embassy etc.  The weather turned cool and rainy so it wasn't ideal for photos.

Moscow was founded in 1147 and its current population is 12 million. ( That is a correction for my statement yesterday. ) Moscow has 5 airports,  11 train stations, and 100 bridges. Moscovites brag about the efficiency and cleanliness of their Metro system which we  experienced today. Here are a few photos

                       

  

Views of Red Square

 (red means "beautiful" in Russian)

 The photos above are from inside the GUM department store in downtown Moscow.  It's famous for its expensive shops and is gigantic in its 3 story building.

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

The following are from the Metro.  Russians are proud of saying their metro stations are underground palaces.

America is everywhere!!

Welcome to Moscow

A short one hour and 20 minute plane ride got us to Moscow, a city of 7 million.   Here are a few photos of our boat and Moscow traffic.
                           

   
                                               

Our boat

Our Russian guide Asia 

Friday night rush hour in Moscow

Russian Cyrillic writing

The dining room on board

Mel and Judy having dinner

Kiev part 3

Today was our last day in Kiev. I feel like I've seen a lot and had a good introduction to the largest country in Europe (Russia is in both Europe and Asia) . The history, politics, and people have been fascinating.

This morning a Kiev resident gave his opinions about his homeland and some predictions about its future.

Then we went on a private tour and saw the oldest synagogue in Ukraine, the Podol Synagogue, built in the late 18th century.  .

This evening we had dinner at a local restaurant and celebrated our time in Kiev with some of our fellow travelers.  

We're getting organized for our flight to Moscow tomorrow where our river boat awaits us.  

Kiev part 2

Last night was a fun dinner at a "typical" Ukrainian restaurant complete with servers dressed in traditional garb and singing Ukrainian folk songs. Below are some photos.

It is traditional to offer your guests a piece of  bread as they enter

                                                                                                               

Today was very busy.  After breakfast we went to the famous Monastery of the caves. It was founded in 1051 by the Russian Orthodox Church. We walked in a short catacomb  where monks lived, prayed and died.   

Next we visited the Chernobyl Museum where we heard one of the engineers who was in charge of the fourth reactor on the fateful day in 1986, the catastrophic accident at the nuclear power plant. We learned how it occurred, impacted the town and world, and how it continues to influence the world. 

Last, we went to the site where are over three hundred and thirty thousand Jews were massacred during two days in Sept, 1941.

The site is the ravine at Babi Yar.  The Jews were lead down an alley, lined up above the ravine and shot . Here is the monument remembering the atrocity .

Kiev Ukraine part 1

We arrived at the Radisson Blu hotel in downtown Kiev late yesterday afternoon after a long journey. We had dinner on our own at a local Italian restaurant with some other travelers in our group.  Then we all met for cocktails before retiring for the evening. This morning we had a buffet breakfast in the hotel restaurant and then went for a bus tour and a walking tour of the city of Kiev.  Kiev is a city with ancient roots that are still visible in this city of 3 million.  There are 10 districts, 5 on one side of the Dneiper River and 5 on the other. Below are some photos that we took on the city tours.
Tonight is dinner at a traditional Ukrainian restaurant and a folk dance performance.

               

 skyline view of part of Kiev and the Dneiper River

St. Sophia's Church

Ready for our Travel Adventures

Sidewalk shopping