10-01-2013 Kizhi Island and cruising

10-01-2013 Kizhi Island

LAT Post

We traveled through the night without incident.  Had an early breakfast and was off for our first tour at 8:45AM.  We all decided to take the leisurely tour on the island and was assigned a guide that was just plain lovely!  We were her first "English" speaking tour as she mostly did French tours.  She did a great job and she was very sweet!  Our group was about 8 people so whenever we went into a building we had lots of room to take pictures and time to ask questions.  The island is about 3 miles long, has 80 people that still live there and the main attraction two churches made of wood without one nail,  They have the onion tops that are so frequently seen here...just amazing.  The walk to the church is about 1.5 miles and it was cold!!!  On the way back we were on our own so I did a fast pace walk back to keep warm.  There were several shops to go into just before you enter the boat..but I did not even stop wanted to get a nice cup of hot tea.

We took off about 10:45AM and the rest of the day was sailing.  I did some blogging. some email, met with John one of the passengers who helped me download some photos using his plug as my seems to be broken, some just plain water watching.  I did take a three hour nap to see if I could get rid of this cold.

The ship has been going thru many locks and has a bunch to go thru during the night.  Very interesting to watch..saves me a trip to Panama!  Lots of oil tankers along the route that appear to be empty and parked for awhile.

I met up with Linda and we went to the cocktail party for those of us one the cruise that have taken previous cruises.  We sat with our new friends Dan and Bill. and have several chuckles about our previous trips.  Dan is a vet and Bill is a lawyer..both a lot of fun!!  We then went to dinner ...then I headed again for bed..still fighting a cold!!!

LMR Post

Left the ship early to visit the island of Kizhi.  Built in the 1300's.  The church is onion dome style with many beautiful icons,  Only 80 people live here year around. It was used to protect the country from attackers.  Interesting but very cold.  Lots of icy wind.

Ship did not hit turbulence during the night when we hit the second largest lake in Europe.  It did rattle and bang a lot, though.

Interesting - we have 200 people on board and there is only one two slice toaster!! I have a four slicer at home just for me!

Our group is "D" and our leader is Natasha. She calls us her "dear ducklings". cannot convince her to say "dear beavers"!

Sailed the rest of the day.  Took two classes- one on the Russian language.  Thought of my brother Mike.  Had to recite the alphabet out loud.  Second class was on Russian history up through Nicholas II.  Tomorrow we have the remainder of the two classes, including history up to 1985.

In the evening we had the explores club reception.  Great fun.   Drank a drink called Aquavit.