May 2007 trip to Russia

2: Places visited on the journey

Our destinations on the way were:

Uglich – a beautiful town with a fabulous church dedicated to Ivan the Terrible’s murdered son.

The approach to Uglich	The shop on the quayside	Traditional Russian Folksingers	The Kremlin at Uglich	Prince Dimitry's house

The Transfiguration Cathedral at Uglich	The 'Church of Prince Dimitry on the Spilled Blood' at Uglich	The 'Church of Prince Dimitry on the Spilled Blood' at Uglich	Inside the 'Church of Prince Dimitry on the Spilled Blood' at Uglich	Inside the 'Church of Prince Dimitry on the Spilled Blood' at Uglich

Yaroslavl – once one of the most important cities in Russia; for us the chance to visit a genuine street market

The gateway of the Transfiguration Monastery in Yaroslavl	A tribute to the bloody wars with bows-and-arrows which were fought around Mediaeval Yaroslavl	Inside the Transfiguration Monastery	Inside the Transfiguration Monastery (some repair work needed)	Beehives inside the Transfiguration Monastery

A bell-ringer in the Transfiguration Monastery. He has a string attached to each bell to play them all	Inside the Transfiguration Monastery	A mixture of architectural styles nside the Transfiguration Monastery	A modern sculpture - highly controversial as it depicts an Old Testament trinity of angels	Newly-replanted flowerbed celebrating 997 years since the city's founding by Prince Yaroslav who killed a bear here.

Goritsy – a small town with an ancient monastery (Sorry, I didn't take any photos here)

Kizhi – an island with the most amazing collection of ancient wooden architecture

Cruise ships moored alongside each other on the small quayside at Kizhi	A wood-carver	A typical wooden farmhouse	The baby's cot ...	... suspended from a stick poked through the rafters nearest to where mum is working

The handloom on which the baby's blanket was woven	A 19th century wooden baby-walker	Inside the main room of the farmhouse	'Central Heating' - a wood-burning fireplace for cooking and warmth, with beds above it	Delicate embroidery

The farmhouse has a full workshop. Here is a lathe	Sleds are the best means of transport, all the year round	Even the fishing boat is stored inside the house	A post-windmill	Graveyard. Note the Russian crosses; the slanting lower cross-piece represents the scales in which your life is reckoned.

and Mandrogi. – a newly built theme park with craft exhibitions, a Vodka museum, and a fascinating open-air woodland re-creation of a Pushkin poem (I really recommend that you view this page!)

Traditional transport	Capstan ferry across to the woodland glades	Arriving at the woodland glades	The start of the Pushkin poem trail	What bears do in the woods!

Debbie gets close to a bear - lucky it was stuffed!	The vodka museum	The vodka museum	A traditional small doorway to keep the warmth in	Traditional Russian Dolls

As we neared St Petersburg we were surprised when the ship kept stopping at anchor and then re-starting, as did all the other ships around us. We soon realised that the river Neva, which is fast-flowing and twisting, operates with a one-way system. Everybody travels for an hour and then anchors for an hour while traffic travels in the opposite direction. The system seems to work quite well.

Finally we moored in St Petersburg, where our ship was to be our hotel for the last 3 days and nights.

All pictures on this site are © Allan Jones unless otherwise stated