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After touring the Moscow area for the first three days, the general routine was to cruise rivers, lakes, and canals, through the night and part of the day and then visit one or another point of interest. We traveled through the Moscow and Volga-Baltic Canals; the Volga, Sheksna, Kovzha, Svir, and Neva Rivers; and the Rybinsk, White, Ladoga, and Onega Lakes. Moscow is about 156 meters higher than St. Petersburg and there are eighteen locks along the way. They range in height from 6 to 16 meters. The 1,800 kilometers of waters that we traversed on this trip were heavily forested and sparsely populated although periodically we did pass a small town or village within which there was almost always the domes of a Russian Orthodox Church. Near Moscow most of the shipping that we passed seemed to be carrying sand and gravel to support construction in the capital, but once we turned north into Lake Onega we started seeing more oil tankers and ships transporting logs. There were also a number of other passenger ships moving in both directions along the way. Everywhere that we went a constantly metamorphosing cloud of lake sea gulls escorted us. Our first stop after Moscow was in Uglich and that was followed by visits to Yaroslavl, Goritzy, and Kizhi. In each of these places part of our time was devoted to an informative tour by local guides and part to free time during which we could wander on our own. Churches, monasteries, and convents with amazingly beautiful frescos covering ever square centimeter of their interiors dominated the tours and in several we were treated to Russian songs sung by local vocal groups. They were uniformly excellent and the Russian male bass voice is spectacular. We sailed all day during the last day before we reached St. Petersburg.
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We spent three days visiting St. Petersburg and each of them was filled with extraordinarily impressive palaces, churches and public buildings. Everyone in our group was tempted to make comparisons with various other European cities, but for me the city is unique. The historic buildings in the center of the city are not tall, but they are massive and solidly built of rock and brick. Peter the Great's concept for his capital as a "window on the west" was fulfilled by focusing it on the Neva River. Because of the dominance of water transport in his day and place, the city is filled with a network of lovely canals leading into the city from the river. Trees, parks, and flowers are generously sprinkled among the squares of brick and mortar. Statues of famous Russian figures decorate nearly every park in the city. Over the years the softly colored, slightly rumpled Baroque and Classical structures have served many masters - Russian merchant princes, Communist idealists, Perestroika opportunists, and today a few are even the regional offices of one or another outpost of Globalism. Although we saw a lot of churches on our trip, none were as large as those in St. Petersburg. The same was true of the museums, with the Hermitage taking the laurels for the most spectacular. One evening was devoted to a wonderful ballet performance (Swan Lake). Twice we were bussed to attractions outside the city proper and on both occasions we drove past miles of abandoned factories, drab apartment complexes, and dilapidated civic buildings. Construction is going on everywhere, but there are leagues to go before the tired relics of Communism can be replaced with the more acceptable structures of a modern existence.
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