St. Petersburg to Moscow by ship

After spending four days in St. Petersburg, our ship left port and started the 1000-mile trip to Moscow.  We first crossed Ladoga and Onega lakes, the two largest lakes in Europe.  We followed the Neva River, passed through 16 locks on many canals and followed the Volga River into the Moscow Canal.  This was a canal built in 4 years with Stalin's conscripted laborers.  We visited many small villages along the way and so enjoyed having the chance to see the Russian countryside.  Moscow was so different than we had imagined --- the streets were full of well dressed shoppers, business people heading to work and smiling people.  Capitalism is alive and well in Moscow.  Our tour guides were able to be very honest and forthcoming about Russian history.  This indeed is a much different country than a mere 20 years ago when the Soviet Union dissolved.  The transformation from USSR to Russia, was not easy.  There were very tough times, bread lines and shortages, until the county was able to develop a new economic model.  Since the early 2000's the change has been dramatic, they are still a long way from a completely free and transparent society... but they are so much further along the way than we could have possibly imagined.  The pictures really tell the story. 

This is Liana -- she graciously opened her home, provided fresh baked Russia pastries and answered all our questions about life in a small Russia village.  Our first stop along the river was at the village of Svirstroy -- population 927.

We spent hours enjoying the progression of our ship through the locks.  It never ceased to amaze us as the ship moved into place and we waited for the locks to close and open.

Some times the ship tucked in with barely inches to spare on both sides.

Gortisy and the 14th Century Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery

Dimitry, one of the ship's photographers was also a concert pianist --- we enjoyed several evening of classical piano and with a little luck Dimitry will be in Portland this winter and we hope to have him present a concert at our church.

Arriving for dinner -- escorted by one of the lovely women that served in the dining room.

Kizhi Island is a UNESCO World Heritage site -- this wooden onion dome church - early 16th century.

Arriving on Red Square... and no it is not RED... we learned that in Russian red means beautiful.  Red Square is next to the Kremlin.  We thought this was a building, but Kremlin means a fortress within a city.  There were hundreds of people and no tanks in sight.

St. Basil's Cathedral - Red Square.  Erected in 1555-61 by Ivan the Terrible

Lunch on Red Square

This is GUM department store on Red Square.  In Soviet times this was a very bleak place with very little merchandise that was not grey and utilitarian.  Now it is one of the most amazing shopping centers in the world with every high-end boutique store you can imagine.  The hot-air balloons were part of a special summer display.

No caption needed....

Today, the skyline of Moscow is full of towering glass skyscrapers and hundreds of "the Chinese National Bird" , the name our guide called the construction cranes that illustrate capitalism is thriving in Moscow.

The State University of Moscow -- Constructed by Stalin in 1953 -- it is gigantic, grey and very Soviet looking.  This is one of the seven "skyscrapers" ordered to be built by Stalin.

The Moscow Metro is one of the most beautiful in the world.  Construction began in 1935 and each station is a showcase for Russian Sculpture and art.

One of the many bronze sculptures found the Metro

We learned that there are more billionaires in Moscow than any other city in the world... hence this gigantic Mercedes-Benz dealership.

Not everyone takes the Meto --- note that there are no rules for where or how you park your car.  We saw some pretty creative parking techniques. 

There were beautiful sunsets... but often we missed seeing them since we were in Russia during the White Nights when there are 23 hours of daylight in the far north. 85 metro stations.

Believe it or not... we saw three of these posters in the Paris Metro.  We stopped briefly in Paris on our way home and came to a dead stop when we saw these posters.  A group of Portland musicians had a concert at the Center Pompidou.