Trip Review - Aggie TravelPOINTS - Russia River Cruise Group August 2002

By: Ann James

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For many people, the mere mention of the word "Russia" evokes a multitude of thoughts and memories, ranging from icy cold blasts from Siberia to troops, tanks and missiles parading across Red Square, to the "onion domes" of the Russian Orthodox Cathedrals. After an eleven day trip with the Viking River Cruise company on a 200 passenger boat from St. Petersburg to Moscow on the Volga-Baltic-Moskva River\Canal system, my perceptions and ideas about Russia and its people and country were drastically changed. This part of Russia was truly beautiful, with rolling hills, small towns nestled along the river\canal system, each with its dominating cathedral and domes, and beautiful salt-of-the-earth people struggling to become independent in this country newly emerging from "communism."

Flying non-stop from DIA to Frankfurt, Germany, and then onto St. Petersburg, Russia, was smooth, easy, and comfortable, although long as we crossed through 10 time zones. Transfers from the airport to the Viking River boat, the Pakomov, were included , making the initial exposure to Russia and its language and Cyrillian alphabet a bit easier. Once on board and settled, we were introduced to the crew of the Pakamov which would serve as our floating hotel for the trip, treated to dinner, and given time to adjust to our "jet lag."

St. Petersburg is a city founded in 1703 that has become known as the Venice of Russia. It is a city on water that is criss-crossed by rivers and canals spanned by many bridges; a city with many parks, palaces, boulevards, museums, monuments, and buildings reflective of its history from Peter the Great through Catherine the Great through Nicholas I and II. Renamed Leningrad during Lenin's rule, St. Petersburg has survived wars and revolutions, and is now undergoing massive restoration in preparation for its 300th Anniversary next year. It is, however, a city of two faces: One of the beauty and wealth collected by the tsars and nobles with many elaborate palaces; the other of the disrepair and decay that has taken place in the absence of money or focus to maintain or modernize.

No trip to St. Petersburg would be complete without a visit to Peter and Paul Cathedral, built in 1712 in Dutch style with its gold leaf dome and needle spire, massive interior with elaborate gilded statues and columns, which is now the resting place of Peter the Great and most of his successors. The Hermitage Museum , originally built as a retreat for Catherine the Great to house her art collections, is a stunning palace converted to museum. With the expansion of the collections through Nicholas, the Hermitage was expanded into the Winter Palace quarters and contains works by the worlds greatest artists including Picasso, Matisse, Michelangelo, Van Gogh, and Leonardo da Vinci. We were treated to a night on the town at the historic Mariinsky Theatre, dating from the 1870Õs, where we saw a Russian ballet company stage the ballet ÒGiselleÓ in its magnificent five-tiered auditorium of crystal, gilded carvings, and plush decor; an experience that truly made you feel a part of the history of Russia. The next day, our tour included a trip outside of St. Petersburg to the Peterhof palace which sits on the Gulf of Finland. Begun in 1715 by Peter the Great, it was fashioned after Versailles with all of its ornate style, gilding, domes, and crystal. Severely damaged by German occupation and destruction in 1944, its restoration is now nearly complete and serves as a beautiful showcase for Russian art, tsar history, gardens, fountains, and canal to the Baltic sea.

From St. Petersburg we cruised on the Neva river, across Lake Ladoga, Europe's largest lake, down the Svir river into Lake Onega to the island of Kizhi. At Kizhi, we experienced a mystical excursion to the ancient wooden churches of Russia. Built in 1714, the 22-onion domed Church of the Transfiguration, the 9-domed Church of the Intersession with its collection of Russian icons (ancient Russian religious paintings), and the octagonal bell tower, each wooden structures built without the use of nails, were breath-taking and awe inspiring. During the walking tour, we were enchanted by the ringing of the century old bells from the bell tower.

Leaving Lake Onega, we cruised down the Volga-Baltic canal to the town of Goritsy where we toured a 15th century monastery founded by St. Cyril. Built with fortress like walls, it was a functioning monastery throughout its history, never occupied by foreign invaders, and contains a complete collection of famous Russian icons. Walking through its hallowed chambers and spartan grounds was a vivid reminder of the simple, meager, and harsh life of these monks. As we cruised farther along the canal, we visited Yaroslavl which was founded in 1010 and is now a thriving city of 750,000 people supported by its refinery, diesel engine and paint factories. Clean, alive, and substantially restored, this city and its citizens presented a vibrant picture of "Perestroika" at work and apparently successful. From the restored five-domed Church of Elijah, built in the 17th century, with its icons and frescos, to its open-air markets, trading arcades, and museums, Yaroslavl was a fresh breath of Russian air.
Cruising on the canal closer to Moscow, we next encountered the small and "typically Russian" town of Uglich known for its watches and colorful Church of Dmitry on the Blood, built in 1692 with its five blue domes and red and white walls.

The walkways from the boat were lined with people, from young to old, selling flowers and other small items for a few roubles hoping to supplement their meager existence, and set with open-air venders selling Russian handicraft items from black laquer boxes to ceramic pins to watches to linens and shawls to Russian Baltic amber to wooden ornaments and chess sets. Very little English is spoken, although most merchants were able to advise of the cost in dollars (the desired method of payment) rather than roubles. As you walk through the market stalls and town, listening to Russian and encountering the people, you are given a rare opportunity to see this culture, observe its people, and experience an understanding not found in books.

From Uglich, we cruised down the Moskva-Volga Canal now headed for Moscow. In the Stalin era, Moscow was connected to the major seas by the construction of this canal system and existing rivers and lakes. This was only possible by constructing a canal system leading into Moscow, building dams which flooded many parts of the countryside, and a system of 17 locks to raise and lower the river traffic through the canal\river system. This was accomplished in a 5 year period, a remarkable feat considering it took 15 years to construct the Panama Canal. Because of the extremely dry year in the Moscow region, the air was full of smoke from forest fires and fires burning in the peat areas dried by lack of rain.

Moscow is a large city and the center of the Russian government. With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1993, Russia is now ruled by an assembly called the State Duma with Putin as is current President. Moscow has benefitted through major injections of money for building, rehabilitation, and public transportation systems over the years. Any trip to Moscow would be incomplete without a walk across Red Square surrounded by the GUM (an acronym from the Russian name for State Universal Store), a 19th century building housing three floors of shops, St Basil's Cathedral with its colorful twisting domes almost in an 'oriental' style, to the Kremlin (from the Russian word meaning fortress) enclosing its cathedrals, the Armoury housing the history of the Russian tsars through their jewels, crowns, gowns and robes, horse-drawn buggies, and royal trappings, to Lenin's Tomb with its surrounding graves and memorials to such famous Russian heroes as Yri Gagarin, Brezhnev, Stalin, and Chernenko. What an awe inspiring moment to be standing in Red Square, the heart of the Communist Russian power, and view the people and buildings and towers of the Kremlin walls. Then, touring inside the Kremlin grounds and cathedrals and crown jewels, capped off the exposure to those places whose names are so familiar.
All in all, this tour of Russia was exciting, educational, beautiful, and humbling. What a comfortable way to see Russia and experience its people, culture, treasures, and history.

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