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Pete and I have wanted to visit Russia since the end of the cold war.  Pete's mom's 80th birthday was on July 25th, and we had actually tried to get a trip that left St. Petersburg on her birthday, but I waited too long to make the reservation, and there were no cabins left.  So we signed up for the next available trip that began in Moscow on 8 August.  A bit of a late birthday present for his mom, but well worth waiting for.

We figured it was safe enough these days to travel in Russia, and we wouldn't have to worry about being picked up by the Gulag and sent off to Siberia.  As it turned out, we arrived in Moscow at 5:00 AM on 10 August, to discover that just the day before the Russians had invaded Georgia.  Go figure.

Georgian soldiers avoided a bombardment in the city of Gori, 50 miles from Tblisi.  Heavy fighting raged
in the breakaway region of South Ossetia on Saturday morning, reportedly killing at least 1,500 civilians.

We watched the news over the next few days, wondering if we were going to be expelled from the country, because Bush was making such a stink over the invasion.

A Russian convoy outside the village of Dzhaba in South Ossetia.  Prime Minister
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin of Russia declared that "war has started."

Although the fighting was over 900 miles from Moscow, it was a bit unnerving.  I had no idea how the rest of our trip would go.

Russian authorities said their forces had retaken the South Ossetian capital,
Tskhinvali, from Georgian control.  Above, Russian troops outside Dzhaba.

Now those are some BIG tanks.  Move along little doggies, or you just might become dinner.

An injured woman outside her home in Gori.  Roads out of the area were
clogged with refugees fleeing the Russian bombardment.

War is H-E-L-L, no matter where it is occurring in the world.  And I think it is occurring in too many places now.

A Russian mobile artillery unit fired toward a Georgian position outside Dzhava on Saturday.

Gori, after air attacks by Russia on Saturday

Note the person hanging from the balcony trying to escape the flames above.

Well, that's enough of the reality that met us at the beginning of our trip.  Sorry to present such a disturbing prelude to an otherwise fantastic trip, but it was happening at the time, so I wanted to document it for posterity.

This was going to be our first trip away from our new kittens, and it just so happened that our friends from New Zealand were coming to Argentina for cosmetic surgery.  They had purchased a package deal, which was so much cheaper here than in New Zealand, and that's even with the airfare thrown in.  They asked about the possibility of house sitting for us while we were in Russia, and we thought it would be great for the kittens to have someone here the whole time we were gone.  They arrived on the 6th of August and would be staying just a month.  The timing couldn't have been better.  We departed on the 8th returned home on the 26th of August, and I was surprised to see that the kittens had almost become cats, and worse, they didn't recognize us at first.  They soon got over that, and were happy to have us home again, even if it was only for 10 days.  We departed for Aruba on the 4th of September, and Jason and Ralf departed for New Zealand on the 6th of September.  Our portero's wife took over the care and feeding of the critters until we returned home on 23 September.

Pete, with Jason and Ralf.  This is the "before" they went under the knife photo.
Jason is from South Africa and Ralf is from Germany.  They both ended up in
New Zealand and Ralf owns Otago Camper vans, LTD in Christchurch, New Zealand.
That's how we met them, through renting one of their camper vans on our month long trip in N.Z. in 2003.

Getting to Russia was a bit of a story in itself.  Since we live in Argentina, and Viking River Cruises has gateway cities only in the United States, we would have to fly to New York in order to catch one of their charter flights from JFK.  It would have added roughly an extra $2,000 to our air fare.  So, I went to the Internet, searching for the best  (e.g., cheapest) flight I could find.  I came up with a flight from Buenos Aires direct to Rome, and then direct to Moscow.  I felt it was a bargain at $3,225.90 for the two of us.  Well, I had purchased these tickets in February, and I think it was in July that we read that Alitalia had filed for Chapter 13.  I didn't know if I should try to find another carrier or not, but I did go to their office here and asked about our flights.  I was assured that there would be no problems.  Yeah, RIGHT!  We arrived at the airport at 9:00 AM the morning of our flight, scheduled to depart at 12:20 PM.  There were only about 10 people in line when we arrived.  We stood there for quite a while, and we noticed that none of the passengers at the counter were being processed through, but that the agents were on their telephones, and at their computer terminals madly doing who knows what.

The 3 people with their backs to us were at the counter for half an hour trying to get
their connecting flight confirmed.  Tempers flared at times as the frustration built.

People in suits would appear behind the counter and have some words with the agent and the passengers, and we could see a lot of exasperation on the faces of the passengers.  Finally, after about a half hour of this, an agent happened to walk close by where we were standing in line, so I asked her if there was a problem.  She said yes, that the flight was delayed, and they were trying to arrange for continuing flights.  After about an hour, the line did start to move, and we finally got to speak with an agent.  By this time there must have been 200 people behind us.  We were told that our flight had been delayed, and would not be taking off until 7:15 PM.  GRrrrrr!  We would be catching an Aeroflot flight from Rome to Moscow, and there would be a delay in Rome.  At that time I was just so happy that we were even going, that I didn't pay much attention to our arrival and departure times in Rome.  I later checked, and it was a 10 hour layover.  Sigh!

Actually, there was a positive side to our long 10 hour delay in departing from Ezeiza.  Our friends Alejandro and Jean Michelle had us over for dinner one week before we were to depart for Russia, and they had given us a couple of passes to the Admiral's Club.  They were a gift from the gods.  This was our first experience in the Admiral's Club, and what a treat it was.  Big overstuffed chairs, anything we wanted to drink, beer, wine, and even scotch, gin and rum with a wide choice of mixes.  There was hot appetizer foods brought in periodically, and huge bowls of peanuts, chips, etc.  And, it was all free.  PLUS, there was a BIG screen TV, and it just happened that the opening of the Olympics in China had just begun.  Had our flight been on time, we would have missed this very amazing show.  Well, I felt like it was a positive spin on an otherwise dismal experience.

The flight went well, and the layover in Rome was a bit of a drag, since we were very tired by then.  When we arrived in Moscow at about 4:00 AM on 10 August, our transfer driver to take us to the boat failed to show up.  I had called Viking River Cruises from Buenos Aires and advised them of our delay, and gave them the flight number and the time of our arrival in Moscow.  She said she would advise the transfer company in Moscow.  We had to take a taxi cab, and the cost was $100.  And to make things worse, it was raining.  The entrance to the dock area had a gated entrance, and a security guard would not allow the taxi to take us to the ship without paying a fee (or bribe).  We didn't have any Rubles, so I offered a dollar.  The guard just walked away.  I told the taxi driver we'll give him $5 bucks, so he called him back, and he took the 5 and lifted the pole blocking our way.  By this time the rain was really coming down hard.  It would have been a long walk with our luggage.  This was all very new to us, and it all happened in the dark of night.  I thought I was in a bad movie.  Fortunately the purser on the boat reimbursed us later on for the $100 we had paid for the taxi ride from the airport.  But not the bribe to get into the dock area.  LOL

We thought Pete's mom would have arrived the day before, and was now in her cabin sound asleep.  NOT!  It turned out that her flight from San Francisco was also delayed, and she had arrived on board the boat just 3 hours before we did.  She came to our cabin, and when we were not there, she thought that we were worried about her, and had gone ashore to search for her.  We had been in our cabin less than 15 minutes when she came knocking on our door.  We briefly shared our miserable travel stories, and then decided we should get what few hours of sleep that were left of the morning.  We had missed the first day's activities, which included Welcome Snacks in the Sky Bar at 3:00 PM, Cocktail Hour in the Panorama Bar at 5:30 PM, Dinner at 7:30 PM, an Embarkation Briefing at 9:30 PM and Live Music at 10:00 PM in the Sky Bar.  It turns out that we really didn't miss much.

Here's a map of Russia with our route from Moscow, through the Moscow waterways
to the Volga River, and thence to Volgograd, and then a miserable flight to
St. Petersburg on the internal branch of the State owned airline Aeroflot.

Breakfast was at 7:00 AM to begin our 2nd day.  The shore excursion which departed at 9:00 AM, was a City Tour of Moscow.

In Moscow we traveled in modern tour buses, and wore receivers
so the local guides could explain what we were seeing.  Pete with his mom.

The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour has a very colorful history.

Construction was begun in 1839, and the extremely expensive cathedral was eventually consecrated in 1883.  It took almost as much time to build and decorate as it would remain standing in its original incarnation.  It was singled out by the Soviet government for destruction in 1931, and blown to pieces to make way for a proposed Palace of Soviets, one of the most influential pieces of architecture never to be built.  Only the foundations had been laid when the Second World War brought an abrupt end to the project.  Under Nikita Khrushchev the project was abandoned, and the site was turned over to become an open-air swimming pool, the largest in the world,  which was kept at a temperature of 27°C all year round.  The result was a thick covering of fog that shrouded a number of gruesome deaths (and murders) among the swimmers.  The symbolic significance of the site was reaffirmed after the fall of the Soviet Union, and the Mayor of Moscow, Yuri Luzhkov, joined forces with the Orthodox Church to resurrect the cathedral in a $360-million reconstruction project.  Completed in 2000, the new cathedral is loosely based on the original designs of architect Konstantin Ton, who designed the first incarnation.

View of the Novodevichy Convent from across the river.

The Novodevichy (New Maidens) Convent was founded in 1524 in honour of the return of Smolensk to Russia in 1514.  In form it is very similar to the Assumption Cathedral in the Kremlin.  It was at the Novodevichy Convent that Boris Godunov sought to retire, and from the steps of Smolensk Cathedral that the people and his agents persuaded him to accept the throne of Russia.

This bronze statue of ducklings resides in this beautiful park on the edge of the river, across from the Novodevichy Convent. Our group was small, and at times fun to be with. The weather did get better in the days ahead.

A much needed restroom stop.  Inside I wanted to take a photo, because the facilities were so unique, but of course I probably would have been arrested.  A ski jump left over from a previous Olympic winter games.  I forget the year.

This church has a very colorful roof.  Inside it was full of Russian Orthodox icons. Madonna and Child on the bell tower. They were really into their religious icons.

This map of Moscow shows the Moscow River running through the city, as well as the extensive subway system.

About the Moscow Canal, even Peter the Great dreamed of being able to sail straight from St. Petersburg to Moscow.  His dream was not realized until 1825 when a canal was build linking the Moscow River to the Volga.  However, the canal did not survive very long as it was not maintained properly and there was more interest in expanding the railway network.  At the beginning of the 1930's a shortage of water became a real problem for the capital, Moscow.  It became necessary to link up to a plentiful water supply.  Stalin solved the problem by having a canal built to connect to the Volga.  The entire project included the following 240 construction works: 7 concrete dams, 8 earthen dams, 11 locks, 8 hydroelectric power stations, 5 pump stations, 15 bridges and last but not least the Northern Passenger Terminal with its nearby cargo harbor.  The canal was opened on July 15, 1937 (coincidentally just 9 days before I was born) and Moscow then became an important port connected to all five Russian seas.  In addition, the city also gained a new source of hydroelectric power.

Our next stop was to take a ride on the subway.  At the station we entered, it is over 150 meters below ground, and the escalator to get to the platform is one continuous escalator, the longest I'd ever been on.

Technology is marvelous, but I kept thinking what happens if the power goes out.

The marbled wall and was beautiful.  It's hard to imagine you are 150 meters below ground.

The art was quite impressive.

The trains were modern and fast . . .

. . . and well used.  The number of passengers using them each day is astronomical.  But when you consider the traffic situation above ground, you can easily see the need.

At the station where we left the subway, there was some rather symbolic art above the arches in the rather elegant station entrance foyer.

And yes Virginia, the Golden Arches is EVERYWHERE in the world.

I don't think they actually serve this at the Mac Donald's, but this is the T-shirt I bought.  It looked SOoooo GOoood!

This was a rather broad pedestrian street, but because it was Sunday, it was pretty empty.

Even Starbucks has made it to Russia.  The spread of capitalism marches ever onward.

Our next stop was Red Square, to photograph St. Basil's Cathedral.  It was commissioned in the 15th century by Ivan IV (also known as Ivan the Terrible) in Moscow to commemorate the capture of Khanate of Kazan.  In 1588 Tsar Fedor Ivanovich had a chapel added on the eastern side above the grave of Basil Fool for Christ, a Russian Orthodox saint after whom the cathedral was popularly named.

St. Basil's Cathedral on Red Square, adjacent to the Kremlin.  This view is from Red Square.

St. Basil's Cathedral as you approach Red Square, and the Kremlin.

Red Square, the Kremlin and Spasskaya Tower.  During Soviet times there were many military parades marching through Red Square and publicized to the world to attest to Russian strength.

This huge mall is where we sat and ate our box lunches, under one of those umbrellas.  Tome this is a prime example why you can't believe what you see in print.  What was coming out of Moscow during the bad times was photos of people standing in long lines to buy a loaf of bread, yet this building existed then.  Are we to assume that it was vacant?  I don't think so.  The media was the same here in Argentina during the December 2001 crisis.  The photos you saw in the news were of children with distended stomachs from poor diets.  They lived in farming communities far from Buenos Aires.  Their families were very poor long before the crisis.  Here in Buenos Aires children were still popping peso coins into the game machines in the malls, and their parents had many bags hanging from their arms from all the shopping they had done in the malls.  My point is, newspaper reporters look only for things that will shock their readers.  They are very good at what they do. 

Back on board, having dinner before going to a concert.  We heard the amazing MOSKVA group, and followed that with a tour of Moscow by night.

In the audience before the concert begins.  They were so good that I didn't fall asleep once.

These were just kids, but BOY, were they talented.  They had a CD, and I just had to buy one.

This young lady sang some beautiful Russian songs.

There were several soloists.  She was amazing with her mandolin.

And even the accordionist was excellent.  Normally, if you play an accordion you go to jail.  It's the law.

They even got some volunteers from the audience, which was very funny.

This guy was the drummer, but for his solo he played the xylophone like no one I've ever heard before.  His hands are a blur and you can't even see the mallets he was using to play the instrument.

We went for a morning walk.  This is the long road that leads from the main highway to the ship docking area.  It was a beautiful park.

Looking back at the Terminal Building.  It was quite an historical site.

The stained glass windows inside the Terminal were beautiful.  This photo doesn't quite catch it.

This is our ship, the Lomonosov.  It was named for a famous Russian Mathematician.

The chef on board prepared some very elegant dishes.  This was our salad.

And this was our dessert.  I think I dove into the main course without taking a photo.

A nice option to dessert was a delicious cheese plate.

Dusk on the Moksva and a photo before leaving on our Moscow by night tour.

St. Basil's Cathedral on Red Square is well lighted at night.

The building in the background is that huge mall where we had lunch the day before.

It was a beautiful night for a stroll along the river.

If you were to have asked me 2 years ago if I would expect to be standing on the edge of the Moscow River enjoying a pleasant evening, I would have said "Are you crazy?  Not in a million years."  Yet here I am. The next day we were to visit the Kremlin, and the Armory, where the famous collection of Faberge Eggs are kept.

The Kremlin is quite a massive structure.  In its earlier days I'm sure it was quite a fortress against the invading hordes.

We are standing in line to enter the Kremlin.  They had pretty intense security.

Once inside, the first thing you see is the Armoury, which was built in a851 as a factory for making weapons and armours.  Today it houses a museum in which an enormous collection of Soviet national treasures, including the famous Faberge eggs, is on display.  Unfortunately, you had to pay a fee to take photos inside the Armoury, so I didn't get any shots of the eggs, nor any of the many grand coaches on display there.  There was also the crowns, capes and gowns worn by various Tsars and Tsarinas.  I thought it was interesting that of all the treasures on display, only one was an actual gift from another foreign government, a remarkable dinner set from the French government.  All the rest were obtained by, shall we say other means.

I believe the guide told us that there are 9 churches on the grounds, so you can imagine how big the grounds are, because there are besides various administrative buildings, manors of the Grand Prince's retainers, top military men and rich merchants.

These all have names, but I didn't take notes as there was just too much information.

I was surprised that all these churches remained on the Kremlin grounds under Soviet rule, as I believe they were atheists, and forbade the worship of God.

Here, I believe the guide told us that this is the larges bronze bell in the world.  It was cast, and set here to cool, and after a horrific long time, like 6 months to a year, this huge chunk broke off, and here it has sat ever since.

The Russians seem to like to do thing in a BIG way, so here sits the largest caliber canon in the world.  I don't think it has ever been fired, but I think it would take ten men and a small boy to load one of those canon balls into the barrel.

The Russian emblem of power is the two-headed eagle, which looks at the same time both to the east and to the west.

Another very interesting site we visited briefly before leaving Moscow was the M. V. Lomonosov University of Moscow.  We were told that if a new born infant begins attending classes there the day he is borne, and only spends one single day in each room, by the time he has visited every room in the many buildings of the University, he will have reached 62 years of age.  Now that's a lot of classrooms. 

This is the newest building to be added to the campus.  I think the Russians are very big on education.  How fortunate for them.  I think the U.S. is falling behind on that curve, thanks in part to folks like Arnold Schwarzenegger in California, who is apparently bent on balancing the budget at the expense of California's educational system. Lomonosov University 2 Well, this pretty much takes care of our first 4 days, and we bid farewell to Moscow and the beautiful and impressive passenger terminal.

We set sail towards Ugulitsch at 2:30 PM on August  12th. By 9:50 PM that night we will have entered our 4th lock of the Moscow Canal.  I'll resume our Russian adventure with Chapter 2 from Uglitsch.