MOSCOW — The boat docks here. On its 10-night cruise from St. Petersburg to Moscow, the MV Viking Pakhomov has traveled rivers, canals, lakes and locks and one reservoir between Russia’s two largest cities.
In early October, it has been cool, mostly cloudy, drizzly with some rain, subduing the brilliant yellow leaves in the birch forests along much of the journey. The birch stand out among the plentiful evergreens. An occasional burst of sunshine hints at how glorious the summers must be in this northwestern part of Russia.
The Pakhomov, operated by Viking River Cruises, is not in the class of the cruise line’s vessels along the Danube, Rhine and other waterways of Europe. It is clean, though, and well kept; the passengers are friendly, and the food ranges from good to excellent — especially the hearty soups available at lunch and dinner. The breads, too, are delicious.
The small cocktail lounge near the bow is surrounded by windows on three sides. It is popular, and drinks are not as expensive as on larger cruise ships. A light alternative to breakfast and lunch in the dining room is served daily in the lounge. Teatime also is observed. At other times, the lounge can be quiet for reading or brimming with laughter at the bar.
There are no formal evenings, but there are, for reasonable fees, vodka and caviar tastings. The frequent lectures on old and modern Russia are free. Life is comfortable, and the scenery is unique, most of it rarely seen by Western tourists. St. Petersburg and Moscow are the exceptions, and there are several nights aboard the Pakhomov in both of those cities, so passengers also see the main attractions there. In all, it is a very pleasant and inexpensive way to see a large slice of the vast country.
There are cities much older than St. Petersburg, and even older churches and monasteries along the way, usually well explained by guides aboard the Pakhomov and on each bus during the shore excursions as well as local guides. One outstanding site is Kizhi Island, where old wooden churches were relocated from other parts of Russia to be preserved and are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Along the way at each stop, from the village of Mandrogy, population 50, to Uglich, vendors can supply souvenirs to flotillas of river cruise ships. The goods range from paintings and watercolors to Matryoshka nesting dolls to numerous kinds of vodka and tastes — by the shot or bottle — at a vodka museum. There are Christmas ornaments, tablecloths and napkins, carved wooden figures, and all sorts of clothing. Several groups that sing for passengers visiting churches also sell CDs of their music. A souvenir for everybody.
Viking’s Waterways of the Czars cruise is a leisurely journey from the baroque splendors, ballet and art in the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg through much older cities to the metropolis of Moscow and its music, markets and the mother lode of Russia’s decorative arts and furnishings, the Armory Museum in the Kremlin.
ST. PETERSBURG
The international airport terminal, about 10 miles from St. Petersburg, shows its age; it was renovated in the 1980s on the site of then-Leningrad’s 1950s airport. But it works, and upon exiting customs, passengers see the Viking River Cruises staff members in their bright red jackets. Buses take us to the MV Pakhomov, docked upstream from this city on the Neva River, one of the shorter waterways we will travel toward Moscow.
The Neva is mighty despite being just about 46 miles long from its source, Lake Ladoga, to the Bay of Finland. Of that distance, 17 miles are within St. Petersburg, a city built on 42 of the Neva’s islands. The river is appropriately named, derived from the Finnish word “nevo,” meaning marshy. That describes where Peter the Great built his window on the West and moved the capital from Moscow.
In music and literature, St. Petersburg has been seen as a doomed city, although it survived the catastrophic floods of 1824 and 1924 and the 908-day blockade by the Nazis in World War II. The attacks on the city began Sept. 8, 1941. An estimated 200,000 people died of starvation and cold, but the total number of deaths during the siege was more than 640,000.
St. Petersburg was Russia’s capital from 1712 to 1727 and again from 1730 until Lenin moved the capital back to Moscow in 1918. During the war, the treasures in the Hermitage collection were stored in the basements of the museum and St. Isaac’s Cathedral. The Hermitage is the city’s main tourist attraction, and a guided tour was one of the land excursions offered passengers of the Pakhomov.
One night, passengers could go to the ballet to see “Swan Lake” culminating in what is known as the Stalin ending. Stalin said there was enough sorrow in Russians’ lives without the tragic ending of “Swan Lake,” so he ordered a new ending in which prince and princess survive and embrace, to live happily ever after.
Besides the Hermitage in the Winter Palace on the Neva, Viking offers excursions to two other spectacular palace complexes in the St. Petersburg area: Peterhof, built by Peter the Great in the early 18th century, 18 miles from the city, and the Catherine Palace, built by Catherine I, wife of Peter the Great, and later magnificently enlarged by their daughter Elizabeth I, in Tsarskoye Selo in Pushkin, about 12 miles from St. Petersburg. The gardens and outbuildings are lovely at both palaces; the fountains at Peterhof are exceptional.
LOTS OF LOCKS
After three days in St. Petersburg, the journey on the Pakhomov begins on the third night, to Lake Ladoga, which covers almost 7,000 square miles and is said to be the largest lake in Europe. Like most of the waterways in this part of Europe, the lake freezes in winter; during the war, the inadequate supply line for St. Petersburg crossed the frozen lake to reach the city.
After Lake Ladoga, the Pakhomov enters the Svir River and passes through two river locks before reaching Lake Onega. These two locks are followed by six locks on the Volga-Baltic Canal between lakes Onega and Beloye; at one point, eight locks have lifted the ship 108 feet higher than it was in St. Petersburg. The larger Volga-Baltic Waterway is almost 700 miles long from the Rybinsk Reservoir to St. Petersburg.
The Sheksna Lock then lowers the ship almost 43 feet. Then the Rybinsk Lock lowers it another 46 feet from the Rybinsk Reservoir to the Volga River before it docks at Yaroslavl.
The Pakhomov next turns around and heads up the Volga and into the reservoir and upstream again on the Volga to Uglich. The Uglich Lock, then six locks on the Moscow Canal raise the ship almost 197 feet to its final dock on the outskirts of Moscow. The canal was a Stalin project built by prisoners between 1932 and 1937. The 79-mile canal has a total of 14 locks and links Moscow to five seas: the White, Black, Baltic, Caspian and Azov.
KIZHI ISLAND
One year, we are told after we have passed through the two locks on the Svir River, the first Waterways of the Czars cruise in the spring could not call at Kizhi Island because there still was too much ice on Lake Onega. Ice on the lakes usually is about 3 feet thick.
The passengers on that ice-bound cruise missed a treat on the island. On our morning here, the light drizzle and fog add mystery to the old churches and other historical buildings relocated from northern Russia. The highlight is the Church of the Transfiguration, with 22 domes, all covered in wood shingles. This is the ultimate of onion-domed churches, and it was built without a nail. Nearby are the Church of the Intercession and the Church of St. Lazarus, smaller and also built of wood. Another interesting building is called the Home of a Wealthy Merchant. Not a great day for photographs, but a rich one for the memory.
Kizhi Island is among about 500 islands in the northern part of the lake, where the depth can reach almost 750 feet. The northern coast can be jagged; in the south are many beaches.
ST. CYRIL’S MONASTERY
Near the southern end of the next waterway, Lake Beloy, is Goritsy, the Pakhomov’s stop after Kizhi Island. The attraction here is the fortresslike Kitillov Belozersky Monastery, founded by St. Cyril of the White Lake in 1397. It sometimes is called the White Lake Monastery and St. Cyril’s Monastery.
A small interesting museum houses a collection of icons, frescoes and religious and secular artifacts from the area. Again, our day here calls for umbrellas. Some of the buildings have been restored, and work continues on others, including churches from the 15th to 17th century within the large complex, surrounded by walls and towers and, on one side, Lake Siverskoye.
SUNSHINE
Yaroslavl, south of the Rybinsk Reservoir, claims to be the oldest Russian city on the Volga. The city, population about 230,000, was named for a prince of the same name who may have founded his city on the spot where he killed a bear. That was early in the 11th century. This city of merchants was on a major trade route and in the early 17th century had 18 foreign trading posts and was Russia’s second-largest city.
Yaroslavl is especially beautiful on our day in town, for the sun is brilliant, the sky very blue. The highlight of our bus and walking tour here is the magnificent Church of Elijah the Prophet, a Russian masterpiece dating from about 1650. The wall paintings, wood carvings, icons and gold work — and the architecture — are tributes to the Russian craftsmen involved in its creation. An a cappella male quartet sings several songs during our tour and later sells us its CDs.
We have extra time in town, during which some passengers find a place to celebrate the weather with a toss or two of vodka. Others buy candy, souvenirs and a bouquet of beautiful pink roses for the birthday of a lovely lady named Lucy from King of Prussia, Pa.
UGLICH
We arrive on a Sunday morning in Uglich, perhaps earlier than the souvenir sales force expected us. The vendors hasten to their stands, however, and because this is one of the last cruises of the season for the Pakhomov and similar ships, everything seems to be discounted, from small carved wooden ornaments to winter jackets.
Uglich is much prettier than its name. The streets are broad in our part of the city, with some well-maintained old buildings and churches. It is an old city, probably founded in 1148.
In 1584, after the death of Ivan the Terrible — the first ruler to proclaim himself czar — Ivan’s son and successor, Feodor, banished his half-brother, Prince Dmitri, with his mother, Maria, to Uglich. Seven years later, Dmitri’s body was found in a palace courtyard. His throat had been slit. Blame centered on Boris Godunov, a son-in-law of Ivan’s and successor as czar after Feodor was deposed. Others also have been accused; some claim Dmitri killed himself. This tale from Russian history may be best known through Moussorgsky’s opera “Boris Godunov.” Moussorgsky put the blame on Boris.
Uglich built the small brick Church of St. Demetrius on the Blood to honor Dmitri. It is set among large trees on a bank above the Volga. This and older churches and medieval buildings are impressive from the river and on closer examination. On a gray fall day, it is easy to imagine the charms of the city in summer.
TO MOSCOW
Six more locks to climb, and we dock in the Moscow Canal, but a short walk from a Moscow subway station, which some passengers use to get to and from the center of the city — joining 9 million daily subway passengers.
Shore excursions here include the Moscow Circus unless it is traveling or giving no performance; a tour of Red Square and the old GUM department store across the square from the Kremlin. There are daytime bus tours of the area and a Moscow by Night tour. Another optional tour goes to the State Tretyakov Gallery, Russia’s largest art museum, dating from 1856. The Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts definitely is worth a visit — the Matisse works are most memorable.
The circus was out of town when I was on the Pakhomov, but a youthful balalaika orchestra with vocalists put on a terrific concert. One of the most popular tours was an excursion to Old Arbat Street, reserved for pedestrians to look over the shops of linens and crafts and clothing, art and souvenir stalls and to visit restaurants and bars.
My third visit to the Armory Museum in the Kremlin reinforces the awe I felt on earlier trips. This is the major home of Russian treasures, including the Faberge eggs.
One passenger from the Pakhomov approached our guide and, visibly upset, said, “Where are they?”
“Where’s what?” asked the guide.
“The eggs?”
“The eggs? Oh, the eggs, yes,” said the guide, “Most of them are on tour.”
“That’s the only reason I came here, to see the eggs.”
Pity. She should have looked around at the silver and gold platters, the tureens, the jewelry, the pearl-embroidered and jewel-bedecked robes and sumptuous velvets and silks worn by clergy, nobility and the wealthy; a dress of Catherine the Great; weapons, crowns and thrones — so much that dazzles, so many riches, and all in one place. The carriage collection includes a large sledge in which Catherine the Great rode between St. Petersburg and Moscow. Where does it get any better?
That lady should have been thrilled by these riches and then, after a short walk into the Kremlin, been awed by the cluster of churches, the site of coronations, baptisms, weddings and burials and the centuries of devotion that did not disappear when the churches became museums.
•••
The MV Viking Pakhomov is one of many ships operating on waterways between Moscow and St. Petersburg. The Pakhomov is 424 feet long, 55 feet wide and 41 feet high. Its draft is 10 feet. The Pakhomov’s speed is 15.5 knots, operating on diesel fuel. It was built in 1989 In Boitzenburg, then in East Germany. The capacity is 210 passengers and 110 staff.
Besides Russia, Viking River Cruises offers voyages in China; in Belgium and the Netherlands; the Elbe River in the Czech Republic and Germany; on the Rhine, Main and Danube rivers; and in Ukraine.
The Waterways of the Czars cruises operate in both directions between St. Petersburg and Moscow. Between Sept. 9 and Oct. 13 are 10 more departures. The first of 43 Waterways of the Czars cruises in 2008 is May 4, the last Oct. 20. Prices for the 2008 cruises begin at $2,799.
For more information on Viking River Cruises’ Waterways of the Czars and other Russian cruises, such as St. Petersburg-Volgograd-Moscow, and Footsteps of the Cossacks in Ukraine from Kiev to Odessa and Kiev-Black Sea-Kiev, as well as cruises in China and on other European waterways, go to www.vikingrivercruises.com or call 877/668-4546.
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