As Ngaire said, we woke today to blue skies but a chilly day. Looking out the window, there are forests of birch trees and there were lots of cut trees on the shores, so I assume this is a logging area. As time passes, we enter two locks and then find ourselves in an expansive lake similar to our great lakes. We seem to be going back and forth from narrow river alleys to lakes which seem like seas, wakes and all.

This is my third trip to Russia. The first trip was either 2004 or 2005 and was part of a Baltic cruise. It encompassed a mere two days in St. Petersburg with a guide the entire time. My impressions were of surprisingly former great wealth and
current bleak poverty. I loved the art and history and vowed to return. My second trip was part of a Black Sea cruise to the Ukraine. I loved everything about the trip... The history, the scenery, the culture, the food, the art, the archeology, etc. It offered everything a tourist could hope for. I felt my understanding of Russia could not be complete without visiting Moscow or seeing some of the smaller towns, so that's why I booked this river cruise.

Russia is terrifically expensive and I could never have afforded a 10 day trip like this on land. Plus, I don't know where I would have stayed in between. That being said, I'm
not sure there is enough variety to warrant a 10 day trip here. Once you've seen seen one monastery, you've seen them all. You could really do a few days in Moscow, go to one countryside town, then fly to St. Petersburg. Moscow is worth
a visit - once - but St. Petersburg is the jewel in the crown as far as touristic sights. The best way to see the cities is to get out and walk around, not take a controlled tour here and
there with 20 other folks. I am ever so glad we stayed in Moscow for two nights.

This has been a very relaxing cruise. It hasn't been dull. The sights had become to be redundant. Today, we only get a
couple of hours of a walking tour in the evening and tomorrow's port is specifically a stop solely so that we don't end up cruising a full day and can get out and walk. There is
nothing there but a pink hydroelectric power plant.


Even after having spent over a week here, I get a flavor of the country, but don't truly have all the facts as we are given lots of conflicting information from tour to tour lecture to
lecture. In fact, some information I posted as gospel, was just
that of one individual, as it was contradicted by another lecturer.

It appears that the average net salary is about 9900 USD in Russia overall. The average rent for a one bedroom flat is $740 per month in Moscow. I understand that Moscow pays 2
to 3 times as much as other cities, but the cost burdens are
higher as well.

Literacy is very high at 99.5%, in fact, all of the countries in the top 10 were members of the former USSR. The US ranks 99%. not to pick on the US...we are an open society with many immigrants and the former USSR, a closed one.

While the Soviets shunned religion, churches are their
heritage, and I was intrigued that they haven't destroyed them. Of course, Russian Orthodox is the main religion, with muslim (Tartars) along the Volga, some Orthodox Jews, Baptists funded by the US, Lutherans, and a handful of Catholics in the cities. Russian Orthodox Churches dominate the landscape. Dome color is significant: green=life; blue=heaven; black=death; gold=cathedral. Each church must have a Bell tower or belfry (at least 11 bells). One always enters through a western door and the alter is on the eastern wall.

There are black and white monks. Men seem to like the idea of being a white monk...you can have sexual privileges but cannot marry ( best of both worlds?); the downside being that it stunts one's career growth. Services are normally five hours long and there are no seats for parishioners. The rationale is that one must suffer for one's faith. I can assure you I would have struggled to have been a believer.

As far as handicrafts, the matryoshka dolls are the most common souvenir item and are everywhere and I have seen them ranging in price from 100 rubles to 28000 rubles. It is overwhelming. Some are works of art. Interestingly, they don't
have origins in Russia but in Japan and the ambitious Russians quickly capitalized on the dolls. The Russian originators were inspired by a doll from Honshu, the main island of Japan in 1900 when the dolls were presented at the World Exposition in Paris and the toy earned a bronze medal. Sources differ in descriptions of the doll, describing it as either a round, hollow daruma doll or a fukuruma nesting doll portraying a portly bald old bald monk. Soon after, matryoshka dolls were being made in Russia. These dolls today are a set of wooden dolls of decreasing size placed one inside the other. Traditionally the outer layer is a woman, dressed in a long and shapeless traditional Russian peasant jumper dress. The figures inside may be of either gender; the smallest, innermost doll is typically a baby lathed from a single piece of wood. Much of the artistry is in the painting of each doll, which can be very elaborate. The number of nested figures is traditionally at least five, but can be much more, up to several dozen with sufficiently fine craftsmanship. The largest number was recorded at 99. The word "matryoshka" (матрёшка), literally "little matron", is a diminutive form of the Russian female first name "Matryona" which means fat lady. Matryoshka dolls are often designed to follow a particular theme, for instance peasant girls in traditional dress, but the theme can be anything.

We learned that Russian public holidays do not differ much from ours. As in the US, if they fall on a week end, they take off Monday. Traditionally, New Year's has always been the most celebrated holiday, with Grandfather Frost and his granddaughter, the snow maiden leaving presents on the second. Since the Soviet Union has been disbanded, Christmas is now celebrated on January 7th. On February 23, there is a men's day, originally started to celebrate men in the army, but now celebrating all males, young and old; on
March 8, instead of a mother's day, there is a women's day where all females get a gift; May 1 is spring labor day; May 9 is Victory Day; June 12 is Independence Day celebrating Russia's separation from USSR; and December 12 is Constitution Day.

Medical care is a less happy story. There are free clinics, free care in military hospitals, separate free clinics for children up to 14, free hospitals with long waits, free dentists ( but they say that once you visit one you will insist on going to a private clinic), lines for surgery, you must pay extra for urgent care or private hospitals. Doctors affiliated with public hospitals are paid extremely poorly. There is a lack of nurses in Russia. Medications are not covered. Insurance is very high. In small villages, the medical staff is not highly educated and medical
care suffers. All this has resulted in high mortality rates.

On a positive note, the government has tried to enforce families to have more children by offering about $10,700 for a second child and $17,800 for a third child to be used towards a mortgage. Given the high expenses in the country, it just doesn't seem enough of a stimulus.

Parents have to hold down several jobs to keep households going and have found that there is one great hold over from Soviet times - free camps, offering music, ballet, instruments, etc. over the summer. So, communism wasn't so bad. In fact,
many folks want it it back.

Russians talk a lot about cars. During Soviet times a factory worker made 120 rubles per month...a professor, 240 rubles per month and an elite government official, 500 rubles per month. The most expensive car was a Russian Victory car at $11000 rubles; the least expensive car, the Muscovite, was free to invalids and heroes and there was a long line for them.

Today, 50% are second hand and are 150000-200000 rubles; new they are 350000-2.5 million rubles (figure $40 per 1000 rubles). Russians prefer Japanese or German cars and about 20% have either new or used foreign cars. But, there is now a problem with where to park them...if you don't get a garage they will be stolen. Life isn't cheap or easy for the rich or poor in Russia.

On the subject of obeying rules... Our lecturer gave this example of how law abiding Russians are:

If you want to to get an Italian to jump off a bridge when it is forbidden, you must tell him a pretty girl is drowning.

If you want to get an Englishman to jump off a bridge when it is forbidden, you must tell him the Queen is drowning,

If you want to get a Russian to jump off a bridge when it is forbidden, you must post a sign saying it is forbidden to jump off the bridge.

So, enough of the Russian culture lesson for today. We didn't do much today, except cruse. I went to a tea lesson and tea party this afternoon. We learned all about the use of samovars and the fact that Russians are tea drinkers. I also learned that Russian tea cups and saucers are different than European ones in that they are bowl shaped. This is because they would pour the tea into the saucer to cool it off and drink from the saucer. Additionally, men didn't use tea cups, but they used mugs, which they call goblets. Just a little trivia for you.

I went to the tea party and brought back cottage cheese, apricot and cabbage pies for everyone, but they turned up their little noses and said "absolutely not." I think Brad said
"it's all your fault." I 'll have to see a shrink by the end of this cruise. The guilt!

At 5, we arrived at our destination, Kizhi Island. This island is situated in a lake and houses an outdoor wooden architecture museum. It was a warm and drizzly day, but the scenery was lovely and we had an interesting walk for about 90 minutes. I know you're all wondering about the hat. Well, at the end of the tour, the eight of us gave Nastya the hat she selected and she hopped up and down with joy. We all took pictures with her and the hat and I'm sure Leslie will post them.

There's been lots of card playing but Ngaire has to relay that info. Tonight, we had the Russian government official representing the ship conducting some marketing research. We asked for bathtubs. I, of course, asked, for borscht at every meal. It's nice that they are looking to enhance the product.

Tomorrow is our barbecue and our pink hydroelectric plant. So, I hope Leslie can get up some pictures because there sure won't be much to write about!