Travel on the Mighty Volga

The past few days we have been traveling on the mighty Volga River. Passing by towns and villages, farms and forests we are seeing a land that contrasts sharply with bustling Moscow. It feels like we are seeing the Russia of the great novels.

We pass through Stalin era locks and canals as we move through the countryside. I can't help but wonder how many lives were lost in their construction.

Wednesday we visited the town of Uglich a small dusty place with a rich and proud history. It was interesting to hear our local guide lament the demise of the Soviet era as she proudly pointed out the many statues of Lenin that remain in her town. While she proudly toured us through the churches of her town she failed to mention the Soviet efforts to tear them down and suppress religion.

Thursday we visited Yaroslavl, a town of 600,000 that was the Russian capital several centuries ago when the Poles captured Moscow. This was a town with a 1000 year history.

We will soon be traveling through the Rybinsk Reservoir on our way to Goritsi. All our stops have been fascinating but I will leave it to Wikipedia to provide more history of the ancient cities and towns I mention.

From time to time big homes dot the shoreline. We wonder if they are primary homes or summer escapes as we are just hours from Moscow. In any case, they are far from the little dachas described in early Russian literature.

The sky is a clear blue, free of clouds. The land is flat on all sides.

Knowing that land hides centuries of history I wonder what secrets the next stretch of shoreline conceals.

Ahh, the mind can wander.

The Surprising Kremlin

Monday was described as the highlight of the Moscow tour...a peek inside the Kremlin. What a surprise on many levels.

First, the fact we were allowed inside is a sign of the changes in the post Soviet era. Tourists just didn't pass through the gates in those times.

Second was the Kremlin itself. It was so different that I'd envisioned. I had seen photos of Red Square and the Kremlin walls, both of red brick. I assumed the red brick theme would continue inside. Not so.

The Kremlin is more like a small city of 17th and 18th century buildings that now serve as offices, museums and other similar "state" uses. There is even a 1960's vintage building (that looks totally out of place) that once was home to their "congress" that is now used for cultural events.

The Kremlin walls also contain a number of very old churches that survived the Soviet era when many churches in Moscow and elsewhere were literally blown up and lost.

Following a walk around the grounds we retired to the "armory building" which is now a museum housing treasures from the imperial era. Having just read "Catherine the Great," by Massey, I was able to better appreciate the timing of the events and some of the characters involved.

Tuesday the good ship M/S Rossia will cast off for the first time and take us north to Uglich. Internet connection may be lost but, somehow, we will survive.

Majestic Moscow

Moscow is a city of 14 million people spread out from its central focus, the Kremlin and Red Square. You can't really "know" a city that size after two days of walking and looking out the windows of a bus. However, I can offer first impressions.

Moscow is a big, vibrant, high energy city on the move. There is a certain energy that exudes from the restored cathedrals, new buildings and the demonstrated ability to speak freely about life and politics in this former capital of the USSR.

As our guide says, "it is a city with an ever changing past." Its history is written by whoever is in power now.

Our Sunday began with a trip to Sparrow Hills, a high point from which we could view the city. (There are few high points in this relatively flat city.) There, looming out of the fog was the Moscow State University building.The guidebook describes it like this....

"Since 1953, most of the faculties have been situated on Sparrow Hills, in Moscow's southwest. The main building was designed by architect Lev Vladimirovich Rudnev. In the post-war era, Joseph Stalin ordered seven huge tiered neoclassic towers to be built around the city. Of these, the MSU Main building is by far the largest. It was the tallest building in the world outside of New York City at the time of its construction, and remained the tallest building in Europe until 1990. The central tower is 240 m tall, 36 stories high, and flanked by four huge wings of student and faculty accommodations. It is said to contain a total of 33 kilometers of corridors and 5,000 rooms."

We have seen several of these "tiered neoclassic towers" as we drive around the city and, sitting on a flat landscape they are impressive, despite their age. (Our guide maintains they were constructed with concentration camp labor.)

We also passed by an area of new, contemporary skyscrapers called "New Moscow" that reminded me of the Canary Wharf area of London. They say, "business is welcome." It is unclear what "rule of law" will be applied to businesses in this country under a Putin administration but business is apparently thriving none-the-less.

After looking at the future Moscow we visited the past at the New Market Cemetery. Resting within its walls are the remains of a "who's, who" of Russian history from authors to politicians. Famous sculptures have been commissioned to create the headstones for the residents. The tour provided a foundation for discussing how different people have risen and fallen from grace over time as the political winds have passed across Russia.

Sunday evening found us at the famed Moscow Circus, well worth the visit both for its history and entertainment value.

I could go on describing the places we passed and impressions we were left with but I will leave that to the guidebooks. Suffice to say many preconceived notions of Moscow have been put to rest with the visit and this child of the cold war era I will leave Moscow with a new understanding of the place; surely superficial but new.

Moscow, The Paris of the East

Saturday we divided the guests into our small groups of thirty, boarded our bus with Gene, our tour guide, and headed southeast into the heart of Moscow and the Red Square. On first impression Moscow is like any big international city. Lots of traffic, tall buildings and on going construction. Gene pointed out many noteworthy building along the way, some very old and some dating just to the Soviet era.

Umbrellas popped up when we were greeted by Seattle skies at Red Square. We could only view the square, not walk across it, as crews are working hard to prepare for big parades set for May 9th to honor the end of World War II. Lenin's tomb was barely visible behind the scaffolding wrapped in "May 9th" banners and much of the Kremlin wall is concealed by the rows of red, white and blue bleachers prepared for the dignitaries who will witness the grand parade across the square.

I could almost visualize the Stalin and the government leaders standing there before the passing tanks and missile launchers during the parades of the cold war. The square is impressive and bathed in history but somehow smaller that I pictured it.

Passing the famed St. Basil's Cathedral we moved to the GUM department store. I was surprised to see that, rather than being a single store it was an enclosed mall sporting high end and familiar names such as IZOD, Mont Blanc and scores of others. There is evidence of a high end consumer market in the area. (That was reinforced by the fleets of Mercedes, BMW and Lexus automobiles populating the city.

We were cautioned not to judge Russia by the appearance of wealth in this part of Moscow. That would be like judging Fargo North Dakota by ones impressions of 5th Ave in New York City.

We saw this building and that building and heard many interesting stories about them before descending into the famous Moscow Metro to ride the rails and visit several stations, most of which were built and are maintained like museums. Residents are justifiably proud of the beautiful and apparently efficient system.

The tour ended on the famous Arbat shopping street. Turned loose for lunch we passed local shops and not so local ones like Dunkin Donuts, Wendy's, McDonalds and the Hard Rock Cafe ending up at a large Starbucks. It looked like any store in Seattle except the signs were unreadable and, with my command of the language, our drinks were unorderable. We were saved by a lovely Russian woman in line who graciously translated our order for the barrista.

It was then back to the bus for a quiet evening and attempt to further ameliorate our lingering jet lag.

Spies Like Us

Here we are behind what used to be an "iron curtain." Now it's rusty and porous. Growing up in the 1950's, during the cold war it was very real and, at times, very frightening.

There was the "west", the USA and western Europe (the good guys.) There was the "eastern bloc" (the bad guys.) The USA and the USSR were engaged in a metaphorical gunfight at the OK corral with missiles rather than six guns.

The spy business was booming. Both sides wanted to know what the other was doing and employed thousands of spies to gather the info. There was microfilm, pens with hidden compartments, secret codes and scores of other ways to pass clandestine information from one side to the other. (No, there was no internet and twitter was a bird sound.)

The spy business attracted the attention of newpapers and magazines and spy stories abounded Spy stories spawned movies (Bond, James Bond...) and TV shows (name is Smart, Maxwell Smart...)

The spy business was very much a part of my growing up culture.

Now I am behind the former iron curtain in the capital of the former "evil empire" and I wonder if all the spying stuff is history or if--just say if--the people I see are innocent bystanders or members of a new generation spy network, still hard at work.
-Is that guy on the bench really reading the paper or waiting for his "contact?"
-That woman just handed a magazine to another. What does it contain? Plans for some industrial enterprise?
-The guy in the black leather coat over by the elevator just has to be doing something nefarious. Everyone in a black leather coat must be up to something!
-The woman in red coat left a newspaper folded just so on the bench. Who is going to pick it up?

Are any of these suspicions for real. Not likely. But they do take me back to those wonderful and somewhat scary days of the 1950's and 60's. And there is no harm in letting my imagination run wild a little. There might be a good story in there somewhere.

But, what about that dark haired guy across the way, I wonder if....

Moscow, Our First Day at Sea

We left Seattle Thursday morning and arrived in Moscow Friday morning after two flawless Delta flights: Seattle to JFK to Moscow. As for being at sea, well, not so much. We are settled in on the M/S Rossia tied to the quay on a Moscow riverbank.

The first week of May is a national holiday time in Russia so the streets are relatively quiet as locals have left town for a holiday. It promises to make our in-city travel much easier.

The good ship Rossia has everything you need and nothing more.
A stateroom the size of our master bath at home.
Coffee drinks available 24/7
A spacious dining room with good food (Cossack Beef Stew last evening).
Small comfortable library
Two bars (one big and one little) with music each evening. (Last night the bar was quiet as quests were just adjusting to the time change. But we enjoyed good keyboard and vocal from Sergy while we played gin and sipped vodka (of course).
A gracious staff (1 staff/2 guests)
Wi-Fi access
Nice views of the river traffic.

The trip is off to a good start. Today, Saturday, we are off to the Red Square

From Russia With Love

We are off on our 2013 adventure, a three week river cruise in Russia with a land and ferry side trip to Estonia and Finland. It’s a new part of the world for us.

First stop is Moscow, where we will board our cruise ship, the Tikhi Don, using it as our Moscow hotel for several days while we explore the Russian capital.

Then, through canals, rivers and lakes we will make our way to St. Petersburg where, once again, the ship will be our hotel while we probe the history of this storied city.

Finally, leaving the ship behind we will visit Tallin, Estonia and Helsinki, Finland.

It’s a big place with strange languages but should be educational and interesting. This will be our second trip with Grand Circle Travel. (www.gct.com)

Last week we were a bit frustrated with Grand Circle. After booking 11 months ago, and receiving our room assignment, we were informed that they were “overbooked.” The “good” news was that they had another, less expensive room for us. The “bad” news was they were tossing us downstairs to a lower deck. However, after learning we were not happy with the treatment, they moved us back topside when another guest canceled. As a famous writer said, all's well that ends well.

So it’s off to Moscow, via New York. Once we recover from the 11 hour time change and can find an internet connection we will let you know more about our progress and experiences.