Day. 5   Moscow to Uglich

I have been having a lot of trouble sending sending E-mails and I don't know why. They go into my Outbox and when I try to send again , it is then duplicated.I have no trouble receiving emails so would appreciate any news you may have.My Blogs seem to be going through OK.

We sailed all night and then all day till 6pm and then embarking for a local walking tour in Uglich of a couple of churches and the local market.It looks to be a very poor area with most buildings in poor state of repair though the main church, The Transfiguration Cathedral was beautiful on the outside with its golden domes.Inside was quite dark as are most churches here as the figures depicted on the walls and ceilings are of historical stories - a bit too complicated to remember as their history is long and very complicated and as one guide put it, when a new government comes to power they can put a different slant on things.Not an unfamiliar story eh?This is just a small village but has several churches, a monastery and a nunnery.Of course nunneries came in handy as when someone important /rich wanted to take a new wife as Ivan The Terrible did, they just sent the wife there and forced her to "take the veil" or she somehow disappeared and often was poisoned not by him of course.We also had some Russian Folk Music on board and a talk on the arrival of tea in Russia how it was presented and followed by a Tea Party/Afternoon Tea.It is so lovely to just sit in the lounge and watch the world of Russia go by on the banks of the Volga River.

                                  Day  4 Moscow

It was great to have a quieter day even tho it was still midnight when we hit the bed.Our bus braved the very busy roads again and headed to SW and then W firstly to a great lookout at Sparrow Hill which gave us quite a view over the city or part thereof as with a pop of some 12mill I don,t think we could cover it all.This had a very big ski jump and it looked terrifyingly steep.Here also was the main university of Moscow (there are a few).As you can imagine it was quite an imposing sight on huge expanse of land.Then it was on to Bow Hill and to Victory Park.Wow I had thought I'd seen some magnificent war memorials but I think this outdid them all. It was an extremely tall column decorated with some 250 scenes.of battle with a huge slain dragon at the base.Behind this was a very large museum. Then we were taken underground to see some of the Metro stations and, would you believe, we even travelled 3 stations without losing anyone. The stations we saw were decorated in different themes like one had larger than life bronze statues depicting the working life of the people like a woman stroking a hen or a man holding a sheaf of wheat.During the war people lived down here which is some 80mts underground.The escalators are on a very steep incline and move very fast so people stand on every second step and some even manage to continue reading at the same time!The Metro carries 7million people a day and has taken 10mill at timesIt is also very neat and clean with no graffiti.We came out in the city .We came out near the Bolshoi Theatre.This has been refurbished but everywhere else there seems to be buildings behind scaffolds and also lots of road reconstruction.Surprisingly we were back on the ship by midday and after a late lunch I was ready to try and catch up on some sleep before the Captains Welcome Cocktail Party.Dinner wasn't till 8.30 so it was a late night again after an enjoyable day with no rain today and a little sun.

                                Getting  Closer

This is our first Blog on our coming trip to Russia.We depart Brisbane on 27th August on Emirates Airline for a flight of 15 hrs 45 min to Dubai , there for 4 hrs then reboard the flight to Moscow for another 5hrs .We then proceed direct to our vessel , the MS AmaKatarina and spend the next 12 days doing a river cruise from Moscow to StPetersburg along the Volga, Svir, and Neva rivers.

We depart StPetersburg on  8th September for Rome via Berlin and after having a night in Rome, board the " Crown Princess " for a 12 day cruise of the Greek Isles. This will end on 21st September and we then fly to Dubai and have 2 nights there before flying home, arriving in Brisbane at 6.40am on 24 th September and no doubt very tired.

                              One Week to Go

I am still trying to get the hang of this IPad so hope it all comes together before we leave next Monday. We have clothes all over the spare bed and wonder how much of it will fit into suitcases. No doubt we will have to cull some of it and hope we won't need it.If anyone knows how to downsize a photo before posting to the blog, I would appreciate your comments or email to help me out.Actually I am having trouble posting any photo so I will take all the advice I can get.    

                                  Day 1 - 2          

Jim and  Bev dropped us at Emirates at 6.10 and pretty quick thro checking.Flt left 9.15 and 13hours and 26 mins later we are in Dubai at 4.45am and 33deg - pretty warm.Then it was on to a bus to the terminal  and queues everywhere!then the LONG walk to our gate.We walked past all the beautiful shops and now it is too far to trek back so maybe next time.I am absolutely amazed at the throngs of people -so many it is difficult to find a seat and the line up at the toilets!!! Our Flt was very smooth and the food tasty tho they ran out of  Scrambled Eggs for brekky.Eric has gone off to find the showers - may never see him again! It is daylight now so we are feeling more normal again. Our next Flt leaves in 4hours.Eric has had his shower and feels refreshed. Got into shower straight away but then had to queue up at the toilets.The distance to Dubai was 12,300km and another 3,800km to Moscow.Eventually we left Dubai and had a smooth flight to Moscow in 5.5 hours arriving at 3.45pm. After Customs etc.we were met by APT but then was 2.5 hrs in very heavy traffic by coach to get to the ship arriving at 7.00pm after 32hours from home base!!!!Dinner was already under way so off we went to enjoy a sit down meal in comfort.

                                    DAY 3. Moscow - Red Sq, Kremlin,Moscow Circus

Well what a first day of touring as we left the ship at 8.30and some 14 yes 14 hours later we returned!!! very tired . I wouldn't,have believed it if I hadn't done it.Everyone was looking for their bed but no, then we had to have our dinner. That would be a first for us sitting down to dinner after 10.30pm.We sure hope that isn't, a regular thing.

However the day did have other new experiences although most of it was marred by rain which of course didn't help the photos.Luckily we have coats and umbrellas tho we aren't sure how long the umbrellas will last as they have been turned inside out a few times already esp when we stood in the rain for 30mins waiting for our bus to fight his way thru the horrendous traffic.It took us 1.5 hours to travel to city centre to visit the Kremlin and Red Square where we walked around jumping the puddles.Red Sq is barricaded as they prepare for a huge Military Tattoo and celebrations in honour of it being 200yrs since they defeated Napoleon so we saw beautiful horses going thru their paces ans heard a band practicing.There are ever so many churches, buildings and museums in honour of their various victories over the centuries.One church took 45years to build and Stalin destroyed it in 45mins but it has since been rebuilt.St.Basils Cathedral was just as pretty as I imagined tho we did not go inside.Talk about Icons - wow they are everywhere you look in the churches.Our visit to the Armoury Museum overpowering such beauty in the garments, silver and gold pieces of crowns, jewels,and the most beautiful golden carriages and don't mention the Faberge Eggs - exquisite!Because of the heavy traffic they kept us in city and took us to The Moscow Circus - great show but it felt strange seeing performing animals like lions and bears and monkeys which we don't see at home these days. A long day but worth doing.

Photo time

I think I might have found out how to post a photo to my Blog so here goes a trial run.The flowering bush is at the front of our villa and is called a Fiji Fire.It is just coming out in flower.

Getting closer

Getting Closer
This is our first Blog on our coming trip to Russia.We depart Brisbane on 27th August on Emirates Airline for a flight of 15 hrs 45 min to Dubai , there for 4 hrs then reboard the flight to Moscow for another 5hrs .We then proceed direct to our vessel , the MS AmaKatarina and spend the next 12 days doing a river cruise from Moscow to StPetersburg along the Volga, Svir, and Neva rivers.
We depart StPetersburg on 8th September for Rome via Berlin and after having a night in Rome, board the " Crown Princess " for a 12 day cruise of the Greek Isles. This will end on 21st September and we then fly to Dubai and have 2 nights there before flying home, arriving in Brisbane at 6.40am on 24 th September and no doubt very tired.

One week to go

                             

                              One Week to Go

I am still trying to get the hang of this IPad so hope it all comes together before we leave next Monday. We have clothes all over the spare bed and wonder how much of it will fit into suitcases. No doubt we will have to cull some of it and hope we won't need it.If anyone knows how to downsize a photo before posting to the blog, I would appreciate your comments or email to help me out.Actually I am having trouble posting any photo so I will take all the advice I can get.