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m ad LEISURE BY GLENNA GILLAN Red Square, Moscow
The Kremlin
FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE Have you ever dreamed of seeing the
Faberge Eggs at the Kremlin in Russia? In 2006 Art and I took a group of 28 travelers to St. Petersburg, Russia and they were very excited at the prospect of seeing some of the greatest monuments and palaces you could ever imagine. When we arrived in St. Petersburg we were met and taken to our riverboat - the MV Litvinov. The MV Litvinov was built in Germany for the KGB so it was a sturdy boat but could never be classified as a luxury riverboat by any means. The cabins were very narrow and small, the beds were built for short petite people and the bathrooms were all in one - toilet, basin and shower. They even stored luggage down below, as the cabins could not house them after we unpacked. For the next four days we used the boat
as our hotel. This River Cruise package included all our shore excursions and 3 meals a day for the next 15 days. We saw the famous Hermitage original paintings and lapidary work that was so intricate you could literally spend the next three years walking through it. On one particular evening we were treated to a private Ballet at the theatre that was in the Hermitage. It was magical. St. Petersburg is like being in Venice with its lovely canals and buildings. Because it was the 300th year anniversary, Putin had St. Petersburg’s famous buildings painted and everything looked so fresh. We were taken to Pushkin to see Catherine’s Palace and of course the famous Amber room, but the ballroom was stunning. We could hear what we thought was a choir and an May/Jun 2010
orchestra when we arrived at the ballroom. It was four people singing a cappella. The acoustics were so good you would never have guessed it was only four people. We had a real Russian Barbeque on Mandrogy Island and saw a Vodka Museum. No Russian Bari would be complete without the schnapps and vodka. It was a great experience except for the mosquitoes. Late May June is known for them. Next, we visited Kizhi Island, which has no cars, and is famous for the ancient Russian Wooden houses, windmills, churches and the famous three tiered (Transfiguration) church - a fairy tale structure built in 1714 without a single nail and now a UNESCO site. We saw many small villages throughout the countryside; houses with white lace