June 2 – Scenic Waterway & Mandrogy, Russia. We're cruising again, back to Moscow. It's nice to be on the water but I do love Saint Petersburg. It remains to be seen how I will like being back in Moscow. In the US I'd compare the two to New York and San Francisco. Moscow being like NYC. I like to go there and see things but to live there would get on my nerves. I don't really want to live in a big city but if I had to choose between NYC and San Francisco, I'd pick San Francisco. To be honest, both Seattle and Portland would be above them both. I'm pretty sure that Saint Petersburg would be the Russian city I could live in.
From our dock we sailed north on the Neva River to Lake Ladoga where the Neva starts. Where it flows from the lake an island splits the river in two and on the island is Shlisselburg Fortress, a Russian transcription of the German word meaning key-fortress. It certainly has been the key to who rules this area. The earliest fort was built by the Swedes in 1299 but they soon lost it to the Novgorodians. The Swedes later ousted them only to lose it to them again. Sweden took it back again in 1611. Peter the Great took it for the Russians in 1702 about the time he decided he needed a navy. During the time of the Tsars the fort was an infamous political prison. Ivan IV was murdered here and Lenin's brother Aleksandr Ulyanov was hanged here. We arrived just before sunset during the photographic Golden Hour. The light is so fantastic at dawn and dusk but it's hard to time your travel photos for those hours. The fort has four towers, one larger, round one with a red room, and four smaller square ones with black roofs. Peaking over the top of the 30 foot walls are the ruins of a church and a large brick building that must have served as the prison.
Today we are stopping at Russian Disneyland, as Diana had named Mandrogy. This time we are going to skip the little walking tour because we have three things we want to do that we didn't have time for last time. First we are going to the photographer and dress up as Russians for a picture, then we are going to take the little ferry to Fairy Tale Island. It's a short walk in the woods where they have carved figures from Russian Fairy tales. After that we are going to the bake shop for a couple more of their fruit pies.
Later we passed through Lodeynoye Pole (The Field of Boats). It was here that Peter the Great built his shipyard in 1703 after he decided that Russia needed a navy. The first ship of the Russian Baltic Fleet was built here in 1704. The Shtandart was a 28 cannon frigate. The city still has a military connection as it has a Russian airbase, home of the 177th Interceptor Aviation Regiment who fly Su-27s. The shipyard is long gone but there's still an operational lumber mill. There's a marble monument with a large ship's anchor on it that has the dates 1702-2002 that I'm sure commemorates the city founding or the shipyard.
There are lots of fishermen on the banks of the rivers and lakes. Fishing must be pretty good. All along people would wave at us and we'd wave at them. Kids especially seemed to like to be greeted and were the most likely to waive back. Older men out to fish were the least likely to reciprocate.
One of the locks we went through must have been near a tourist zone or city because there were lots of people at the lock taking pictures of us going in and going out. One family, looks like a mom and dad, three kids and grandpa were at the entry gate. As we sailed in mom was trying to get a picture of the others with the boat in the background. The youngest child, a little girl of about 2-3 was so fascinated by the boat she wouldn't turn toward her mom for the picture. Not sure she ever got one. As we sailed out after going up in the lock the same family was there and all three kids, older brothers (about 6 & 10) as well as they young girl waved enthusiastically as I waived to them.
We arrived at Mandrogy just after lunch and Diana and I headed to the photographer's shop. On the way we encountered a mom with the cutest little girl. Her light red hair, round face and pudgy little arms and legs gave her a great look. We asked her mom if they would pose for a picture with Diana and she quickly agreed. The little girl quickly lost interest in us and squatted down to pick up some pebbles. She seemed so happy with that activity that Diana and mom also squatted down for the picture.
He decided that we should be dressed as Cossacks, I think mainly because that's the costume he had that would fit me. Diana looked great in her outfit. I looked pretty plain my comparison but my black hat with a white daisy and the green accordion like instrument he had me carry gave me a certain Russian air. He took us outside to some of the buildings for pictures. He transferred them to his computer and had us select some, which he printed right then using a dye-sublimation type printer. Excellent results. I almost bought one a few years ago but decided that a totally dedicated photo printer was not a good idea.
Our next stop was the little ferry to the island. It's a cable ferry that has a vertical windlass at the center of the raft that extends below the deck. As the crewman walks around the windlass pushing on its handle the cable is rolled around the windlass pulling the raft forward.
Out on the island we walked the circular trail through the woods stopping to admire, if not understand, the wood carving. One in particular was puzzling. It looked like a square log cabin perched atop long muscular bird legs. The cabin had no windows or doors. I can't imagine what sort of story would go with that. There was a group of nine 7-foot tall soldiers at the side of the trail that I posed for a picture with. Hope they're the good guys.
At the opposite end of the circle from the ferry there have a small menagerie, some goats, pigs, foxes, hedgehogs, raccoons, a badger, something that looked like a muskrat, chickens of several varieties, a hawk and an owl.
On the ferry trip back I asked if I could push the windlass that moves the ferry. The ferryman was more than happy to let me have a shot. It was very easy at firs but got harder as we approached the center point then it evened out for the rest of the time I was on duty.
We hit the bakery and I got an apple turnover and Diana chose a cheese bun. Again, both were delicious.
Pretty relaxing day on the rivers and lakes or Russia.
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