Bon Vivant, Glamour Girl and International Woman of Mystery

(Note: Part of a series of entries from my handwritten travel journal.)

Friday, 2 August 2013

We got an early start this morning for the Hermitage, we had an arranged early entrance to the museum so that we could enjoy the art and treasures an hour before the rest of the hoards arrived. (Russia has a shorter tourist season than many other European destinations, so they pack all their visitors into the short summer months because nobody wants to visit when General Frost is in town.) The Hermitage is overwhelmingly decadent and opulent, and that's just the building. ( Read more... )

(Note: Part of a series of entries from my handwritten travel journal.)

Wednesday, 31 July 2013

Interesting stop today. But first, here are some of the sights I saw along the way from the boat as we cruised along this morning: ( Read more... )

(Note: Part of a series of entries from my handwritten travel journal.)

Monday, 29 July 2013

Today we stopped in Goritsy to tour the picturesque monastery there, the Kirillov-Belozerky (Monastery of St. Cyril on the White Lake). ( Read more... )

(Note: Part of a series of entries from my handwritten travel journal.)

Saturday, 27 July 2013

I woke with a migraine. The morning program on the boat was lectures by "experts". I was happy to miss the first one because it was being given by a man that Cathyn and I had already identified in Moscow as the blowhard of the group. I'd already heard him talk enough in Moscow so I was perfectly satisfied to not go and listen to him blowing hard officially. The other lecture was a primer on Russian Orthodox religion, which I might have considered going to if I hadn't been lying in bed with a migraine. I did nip out to snap a pic of Ilyich waving us on our way from Moscow, and we hit our first lock on the canal which I find fascinating: ( Read more... )

(Note: Part of a series of entries from my handwritten travel journal.)

Thursday, 25 July 2013.

First thing this morning, after another fabulous breakfast at the Aurora Hotel we walked to Red Square to go into the Lenin tomb, something I've always wanted to do. Except when we got there Red Square was closed and nobody was allowed into the square - barricades and everything. It was closed because they were setting up for a big event to commemorate 1025 years of the Orthodox religion in Russia. There is to be a big concert tonight in the square. So we walked back to the hotel and wrote some postcards. After that we headed out to Lubyanka Square to see the former KGB headquarters building, which we both wanted to see as the Communist-era stuff is just really interesting. ( Read more... )

(Note: Here begins a series of entries from my handwritten travel journal, since I was unable to bring my computer and unwilling to type it up on my phone)

Wednesday 24 July 2013. ( Possibly the most image-heavy post I have ever made. )