Russia Poland August 6, 1998, Thursday

Our breakfast was early because of the tours. We were taken first to the Hermitage Museum, which was the winter palace. Room after room was filled with the portraits of nobility and the paintings of Rembrandt, Leonardo DaVinci and Michelangelo. There were many paintings by many other famous painters from throughout the world. In the earlier times the subject matter was of a religious nature but in the later centuries they showed more knowledge of the human anatomy and drew muscles as they really are. There were some beautiful landscapes, battle scenes, and nudes. There were innumerable statues carved in stone by Rogan and other world renowned sculptors. Many rooms displayed battle implements and other artifacts. We only saw a small part of the displays.

Before the occupation by the Germans, most of the art work was packed up and secretly removed to a safe location. Only a few people know of the precious cargo and the sealed train carried away to safety. There were so many rooms full of art that a person could spend years looking. At the Rembrandt of Abraham Ready to kill his son with a knife as a sacrifice but stopped by an angel, a budding artist had set up an easel and was duplicating the picture. We had a local guide who lead the group from room to room and explaining the art and a guide from the boat to make sure no one got lost.

We ate our bagged lunch on the buss full of British people. Some of them were dropped off in town while the rest of us went to a palace built by a wealthy Russian family. It was occupied by the German and later the Bolsheviks after the revolution. It became state property and was never returned to the original owners, although some of the descendents were still alive in France. Some of the rooms were not as large as the Emperor’s palaces but the decorations were exceptional.

It had a complete theater—with much gilt—that seated two hundred people. There was an orchestra pit, a stage as large as the seating capacity, balcony and boxes. In the days of the Czars the upper class had everything and the peasants had nothing.

It was at this palace that a plot to kill Rasputin was carried out. There were wax figures of Rasputin and the conspirators to reenact the scene. First the poisoned his food and drink, but he didn’t die. Then he was shot and left for dead, but he crawled on his hands and knees up the steps from his murder chamber. They shot him three more times and threw him in the river. When his body was exhumed, they found water in his lungs showing that he was still alive when tossed into the water. He died by drowning. He was one tough old bird.

We next went to St. Peter and Paul Cathedral, where many of the nobles were buried with sarcophaguses over their bodies. Peter the Great, his wife and daughters, Nicholas the Second with his wife and children to name a few.

On the grounds at a statue of Peter the Great I became separated from the group. By the time I was found I was soaking wet from a downpour.

In the evening we were driven to the ballet. The dancers were graceful. The men more athletic and the women more like floating clouds. Bill and his wife, Betty, were with us at the ballet. He was a retired British navy man. He did 39 years of service from the age of 15. After saying goodnight to my fellow travelers I went to my cabin to pack.

Russia Poland August 5, 1998, Wednesday

We docked in St. Petersburg and after breakfast went on a city tour. The tour wasn’t much of a success because it was raining and the bus windows were foggy. The guide was having trouble with her PA system, so we had trouble hearing her.

However, after the city tour we went to the Pushkin Palace, the palace of Catherine the Great. It was an awe-inspiring building of many rooms. The Germans occupied it during the war years and left it in shambles. The left bombs in the building when they left, but these were found and defused. Many of the rooms have been restored to their original elegance and splendor. The main hallway glittered with gold leaf and mirrors. It was large enough to play football in it. The ceilings had elaborate murals and there were many priceless paintings on the walls. One room had the entire walls covered with paintings set in thin gold frames. All the floors were parquet with different colored wood fitted together in intrinsic designs. It must have taken craftsmen much labor to fit the many pieces together.

We were taken to a theater where Russian dancing was done. The performance by two dozen young dancers—half men, half women—was excellent with much vigor and grace. During the intermission champagne and caviar on small squares of bread was served. Back on the boat in the evening we danced.

Russia Poland August 3, 1998, Monday

We sailed north where the air was cooler. The uncut forests seemed endless. It seemed as though the main industry was logs for building and pulp and gravel. Along the shore was a place where new log cabins were being built along with a new dock. It looked as though it was a new lodge for the tourist trade.

About noon we docked at Svirstroy, a village adjoining a hydro-electric power plant. The houses were built originally for the employees of the power plant and were heated by steam pipes from the plant.

I was invited into a house by an old man standing by his front gate. The entire yard was a vegetable garden with two visqueen covered hot houses for tomatoes and such. The growing season was only three or four months. The rest of the year it was ice and snow. The temperatures reach minus forty at times.

The house was substantially built with a metal sloped roof, wood construction with wood and stucco exteriors. I was lead into the living room. The walls were wall papered and the floor was covered with a brightly colored carpet. There was a radiator under the double thick windows and a very large tank in one corner--a part of the heating system. There was a glass case filled with momentos, a coffee table and an over-stuffed couch on which I was invited to sit.

Timour, who was ten, brought a picture album and told us about his family. His English was very good. His grandfather, who I met at the gate, his grandmother, mother, and father, three brothers, and two sisters all occupied the house. They were gracious to me and as I left I gave the children each a dollar. Later I discovered that inviting a tourist from the boats into their house is one way to augment their meager wages.

The natives had for sale smoked fish and strange looking mushrooms (one three inches across and dark brown with white spots). It looked poisonous. There was pickled fish, blueberries and raspberries. A one legged man with his crutches near by was selling dusters and, of course, the old ladies were selling flowers. The booths carried the things tourists bought, such as stack dolls, rag dolls, and jewelry. I bought necklaces and a pair of earrings.

Our guide walked around the village picking wild flowers and returned with a beautiful flower arrangement. An impromptu sing song lead by an accordion began. The singers, who sang in another language, were from a cruise ship tied up to us.

We were served wine at the Captain’s dinner. I sat with Jackie and Kevin from the London area. The chicken and potatoes were better tasting than some of our meals. It was a pleasant meal.

At 9:45 the cabaret show started. Our cruise director had recruited talent from the passengers and there was considerable. Alex was a thin English woman bubbling with personality who had a way of relating to all ages. She put on an imitation of Al Jolsen, line danced with teenagers, sang with the people who had learned Russian songs, and directed those of us who had learned a Russian dance. The evening was a great success.

Russia Poland August 2, 1998, Sunday

Tatiana told us more about life in Russia as the communist philosophy gradually collapsed and Russia had to turn to a free market economy. Much of what she talked about was from her own experience so her intimate knowledge opened up a window into the changing way of life there.

At noon we arrived at the island of Kizhi. All the buildings were of logs, including the church with many onion-topped domes, which were a spectacular sight. The log construction of the church was very professional and the many domes showed that skilled craftsmen had done their work well.

It was an amazing feat considering that all the logs had to be floated to the island or perhaps slid on the ice in the long frozen winter months. Just to keep alive must have been a chore on top of all the labor of constructing the churches.

I discovered there was an American couple aboard. They were east coast snow birds who winter in Florida. He had the same kind of camera as mine, a Minolta Freedom 140. I told him I liked mine.

There was a building with a large wind mill for grinding grain. The entire building could be turned so it faced into the wind. The log houses were snug retreats in the winter, where the inhabitants huddled in one room which they kept full of firewood at all times. There could be as many as 20 living in one house. They were self-efficient and had to invent ways of getting the job done.

Russia Poland August 1, 1998, Saturday

At the breakfast table were two couples, one from Liverpool and one from Scotland on the west coast. They were at an age where they were still working and had to get back to their jobs when they reached St. Petersburg.

We boarded a bus for a short ride to the Kirill Monastery. The work started on the first wooden building in the sixteenth century. As time went on buildings were constructed of brick and a huge brick fortification wall with towers was built around the grounds. This happened after a failed attempt by the Polish soldiers to take over. There were several churches within the walls and some had been turned into museums where icons were displayed. The whole complex was enormous with millions of bricks on the construction. The state had given back a part of the monastery to the church but not the museum. We had a Russian-speaking guide so our guide was interpreted. At the souvenir stands I bought two pairs of amber earrings. We boarded and were on our way to Kizhi

At lunch I sat with a Scotch couple. The wife was a teacher in a small school. She taught four or five grades in addition to running the school. The man was an engineer. It seems as though it took two people working to support a household, especially if they had children in college.

At 6:00 p.m., Tatiana, a cruise director, told us about life under the communist regime. She had to wait four years for a two-room apartment, but she said some people waited 10 or 15 years. The apartments rented for about 200 rubles a month (about $33.00) and the average wage was about 500 rubles (about $82.00). Te problem with the Soviet system was the person who worked hard and the person who did nothing received the same wage. When the system collapse and the pay for no work stopped, many were discontented. She was afraid the old guard communists would win out and return to power.

My dinner companions were two couples who had traveled to the U.S.A. and had been to Los Vegas. I asked them if they had visited their London Bridge at Lake Haversaw. They said no.

There was a concert where the Russian players performed. The music was good but I kept falling asleep. Later then the Portuguese showed up on the dance floor I revived and did a little dancing. There were five women and a man at the table with me. The man was a lawyer. One woman was a doctor, one a gymnast, one a psychologist, and two were teachers. They were young, lively, and out to have fun.