This blog will take you to places you’ve always wanted to see and to some you may only have heard of. Its purpose – to immerse you in extraordinary tastes and colors, smells, sights and experiences, infecting you, or perhaps aggravating, an already serious case of wanderlust.
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Russia – Yaroslavl – More Treasures
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I was hoping to see Russia’s famous birch trees in autumn, and I’m not disappointed. Both banks of the Volga in October glow with their oranges and yellows.
Our next Golden Ring city is Yaroslavl, founded by Vladimir the Great of Kiev (980 – 1015) to protect his realm’s Northeastern flank. Vladimir brought Christianity to his kingdom, baptized in return for permission to marry the Byzantine emperor’s sister. He was an early descendent of the Swedish Vikings who invaded in the 9th century, and were called the Rus – (reds) – after the color of their hair. Thus, Russia.
Today’s Yaroslavl boasts a city center of 17th to 19th century buildings constructed by wealthy merchants, each determined to outdo the other. Our first visit is to the art museum, formerly the governor’s palace. We’re treated to a charming dance performanceIMG_1321
The paintings were fine, but I loved the display of the lacquer boxes Russia is famous for.
The glory of Yaroslavl is its churches and the treasures they hold. Breathtaking icons, tier upon tier,IMG_1335 rising to the roof of the Church of Elijah the Prophet.
The walls are covered with paintings of biblical scenes. My favorite is the story of 
creation.
The Russian Orthodox Church does not allow musical instruments to be used in its services – only the human voice. Haunting. Who needs instruments? The last scene in this video shows a painting of the Romanovs, the Russian royal family killed during the revolution, now revered as saints and martyrs by the Russian church. img_1337
Russia – Setting off for the Golden Cities
The Moscow Canal will take us to the Volga. Its 80 miles was a Stalin project, begun in 1932 and dug by several million prisoners. Though the dimensions of the project were far greater than either the Panama or Suez canals (15 dams, 11 locks, 8 hydroelectric power stations, 5 pump stations, and 15 bridges}, it was completed in five years. “Mother Volga” itself, at 2,000 miles, is Europe’s longest river, and, with its chain of dams and navigation locks, carries two-thirds of the country’s river freight.
The so-called Golden Cities we will visit, some of Russia’s oldest, are iconic with onion-shaped domes, kremlins, and gingerbread houses. Our boat moors first at 
Uglich where we visit the star-spangled domes of the Church of St. Dimitry on the Blood, built to commemorate the mysterious death, at 8 years old of Dimitry, Ivan the Terrible’s youngest son. The story put about was that he’d fallen on a sword in an epileptic fit, but it’s believed that he was murdered on the orders of Boris Godunov, regent for Demitry’s enfeebled older brother Feodor. The event was the catalyst for Alesandr Pushkin’s drama and for the opera by Modest Mussorgsky based on it – the most performed of Russian operas.
Next we pay a visit to the home of a working class couple. He’s a security guard 
and she works in a clothing shop. We sip home-made vodka and appreciate home-made pastries as the couple tell us of their life. They built their modest, but comfortable, home themselves and raised two daughters here.
They are largely food self sufficient, keep a pig, rabbits and chickens, and grow most of their vegetables and 
fruits. Viking has, of course, paid them for their hospitality, but they seem genuinely interested in sharing stories from their lives. We feel a connection with their aspirations and their joys, especially their devotion to the grandchildren they treasure.
Russia – Moscow – The Subways, The Kremlin, The Pushkin, The Circus
Moscow Subway
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We’re grateful to have Russian guides as we travel Moscow’s famed subway. It’s one thing not speaking the language, quite another to not even recognize the letters of the Cyrillic alphabet. Though its a great way to get around, we don’t trust our ability to identify the stops from what, to us, is a scramble of unrecognizable symbols. Built mostly in the ’30s, each station is a work of art and spotless. My favorite has huge bronze art-decoish statues of the heroes of the revolution – farmers, soldiers, factory workers, athletes, nurses – and a dog whose nose it’s good luck to rub.
An atmospheric snow falls as we visit the Kremlin. Kremlin means fort and and that’s how it started life in the 12th century, a smallish triangular wooden fort, Moscow’s first settlement. It’s present form dates largely from the 1500s and was the headquarters of the church as well as the government, and home to Russia’s rulers. From here Ivan the Terrible orchestrated his terror, Napoleon watched Russia burn, Lenin fashioned the proletariat dictatorship, Stalin purged his ranks, Khrushchev fought the cold war, Gorbachov unleashed perestroika and Yeltsin concocted the New Russia.
Mark and Putin’s Office Building
Today, Putin rules from the yellow former senate building and the royal palace, still home to Russia’s president, serves ceremonial functions.
Archangel Cathedral
Assumption Cathedral
Three of Russia’s most important churches are located here – Assumption Cathedral, Archangel Cathedral and Annunciation Cathedral, golden domed and filled with sumptuous icons and more gold.
Rembrandt at the Pushkin
This afternoon we’re on our own. We walk along the river-facing Kremlin wall and come to the Pushkin Museum. It has some marvelous paintings, but also a unique weirdness. It houses replicas of famous artworks. Russians, largely unable to travel outside the USSR to see the originals, could still come to the Pushkin and view them.
We manage to find a taxi, and it’s off to the 
Moscow Circus. Just fantastic. The arena is filled with families, all dressed in their best for the outing. We sit behind a family of three including a delighted small boy. Throughout the performance, he can hardly contain himself, pointing at each new spectacle – “Look! Look!” We’re pretty sure that’s what he’s saying.
IMG_1296 One thrill after another. Click for a bit of the action. We don’t want it to end – the gymnastics are amazing, costumes great fun. Just what a circus should be. Somehow, in the milling crowd after the show, we manage to locate the driver Viking has arranged, and we head back to our floating hotel driving through a Moscow lit up for the night.
Russia – Moscow – Surprises and More Surprises
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The riverboat terminal where our ship is docked is a 40-minute drive from the center of Moscow, Europe’s largest city (10.5 million). We board our tour buses for the ride in, looking for the gray Soviet-era apartment towers we’ve seen pictures of. Not on this route. Apartment buildings to be sure, but modern and attractive (and illuminated at night to show off architectural details). Mark begins to notice something else unexpected as we near the city center – Bentleys keep popping up amid the fleets of Mercedes. Not a Lada in sight.
Four Seasons Hotel
The bus puts us down in Revolution Square in front of the the Four Seasons Hotel.
Entrance to Red Square
Just across the way is the entrance to Red Square.We walk through the archway and into the center of Moscow, into Russia’s heart. The square is 1000′ long
Kremlin Wall
and 230′ wide, the sight of every major national celebration, including the annual May Day Parade. Lenin still reposes in his mausoleum. On one side of the square is the 75′ high east wall of the Kremlin.
GUM Department Store
Facing it on the opposite side of the square is the wedding cake facade of the famous GUM department store, outlined in fairy lights. We step inside and halt – trying to take it all in. Its three levels are topped by arched glass roofs covering hundreds of stores, mostly with designer names.
GUM galleries
A shoppers paradise – if you bring the family fortune.
St. Basil’s Cathedral
We head back out into the autumn dusk, snowflakes falling. There, at the end of the square, is its jewel – St. Basil’s cathedral, a fantasy of colors and shapes. Breathtaking.
St. Basil’s interior
Built in the 1500s, its onion domes and tent roofs rise above nine churches. We enter and can hardly believe our eyes. Every surface is painted and/or gold-leafed and we are surrounded by glorious icons as we make our way from one chapel to the next. We hear music. A male quartet is singing Russian sacred music in one of the chapels, adding to the heavenly atmosphere that surrounds us.
We would like to stay much longer, but we have another appointment – tickets to hear the Moscow Philharmonic at the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall. We find a taxi outside the Four Seasons and show the driver our tickets. He nods and off we go. Well, sort of. It’s rush hour and traffic barely moves. We drive and drive. I’m beginning to have very negative thoughts about the honesty of our driver – and looking at my watch doesn’t help. How far can it be? Still we drive on. Finally he stops outside what appears to be a movie theater.
Moscow Philharmonic
No! No! No! But then he indicates the building ahead of us, and yes, concert-clad people are climbing steps, and we are on time! The music – a Tchaikovsky program which includes a fantasy for orchestra and piano – is all we’d hoped for. We relax and let ourselves believe it – we are actually here. Magic!
Russia – Moscow – Not in Kansas Anymore
Russia! Dismal, gray, food lines, sullen babushkas.
The pictures in my head don’t change no matter what the guide books say. At Venice’s Marco Polo airport, the images are reinforced as we check in by the queue at the machine that dispenses sheets of sticky plastic for wrapping your suitcase to discourage tampering. Should we get in line? We decide to take our chances.
And, we’re traveling on Aeroflot. Will the cabin be heated?
We needn’t have worried. The attendants are beautiful and gracious and there’s more room for our legs than we’ve had for years in economy class. The taxi dispatcher at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport helps us into a cab and we’re off. After 20 minutes or so, the driver turns down a gravel road between rows of trees. All looks deserted, and fears return. We stop at a check point, are waived through, and then pass a large, once ornate but now dilapidated building. Where is he taking us?
Then we see the river – the Volga, and there, tied to the dock is the Viking Thor – our riverboat home for the next 13 days. We heave a sigh of relief as we’re greeted warmly by the staff and guided to our room.
Another sigh of relief when we open the door. It’s perfect – everything 
thoughtfully designed – Scandinavian in light woods and soothing colors. And we have our own balcony – though with October’s temperatures we won’t be spending a lot of time there.
We’re in need of rubles and set off, following a map that should lead us to a nearby 
shopping center. Half way there, in the middle of a park, the snow starts falling. Beautiful. A fitting welcome, we think. We find the shopping center. There are no lines, no empty shelves, no sullen babushkas. Music plays, the shops are stuffed, and friendly people, trying out their English, vie in helping us find the ATM.
Hmmm. Maybe the guide books were right.
