We arrived in Moscow by mid-morning and started our first excursion at 1:30. Bussed about 45 minutes to the center of town, our local guide gave us whiplash as she repeated a constant litany of "on your right...... on your left..... on your left...." I took a bazillion pictures but have very little clue re: what gray building was what Soviet headquarters and what cathedral as in honor of which saint and which palace was inhabited by which revolutionary, author,...

Uglich, Uglich, Uglich. It doesn't mean Ugly, but I can't now remember what it does mean. By now (Thurs) I am pretty much cathedral'ed out, and the thought of another day bouncing in and out of a bus and in and out of a cathedral and a home tour of an honest-to-goodness (as far as the cruise company and the local principality want us to believe) Russian home just didn't appeal. But I kept it all inside (I know! I hear your gasps of shock) and put on my little ...

Yarlslavl was an unexpected pleasure. It's an ancient city, founded in 1010 as our local guide repeated again and again (how else would I remember the date three days later, even though I am the daughter of a history teacher I no longer have a capacity for rote memorization). It sits on the confluence of the Volga and the Arshkeyvarngey Rivers (well, the Volga but our guide told us even the locals have a hard time pronouncing the other one so I didn't even atte...

Early morning stop at Kizik which is 400 kilometers south of the Arctic Circle and our northernmost part of the trip. This place had been designated as an UNESCO world museum/heritage site. Occupied by the Finns in WWII, fortunately for the Russians, the commandant had studied architecture in the USSR prior to the war. He appreciated the structures on the island, some dating back to the 1300s (if I remember correctly). He forbade them being destroyed, and the ...

Will fill y'all in on the day later but for now an anecdote. At 9:00 tonight Sigmund and Rose were scheduled to perform in the Sky Bar. Mama and I got there at 9:05 and the 9-year-old Asian boy was at the piano, playing a Beethoven sonata. And didn't know how to end it. I don't think it was his first number and it unfortunately wasn't his last. He played well enough, with few missed notes or false starts. And vey well for nine. But he then played a Bach. And th...