We felt Goritzi gave us the best idea of how Russians live in small
towns. Above is the view of the town as we approached it on the boat. In the
background you can see a scaffolding around the domes of a church. This was a
common sight on our trip as many churches are in the process of being restored since the
fall of communism.
From land we were able to get a feel for Russian life. And thanks to
our friend, Peggy Curry, we have some pictures to share of the town itself and our
adventures there. (Our extra film was back at the boat and we weren't able to take our own
pictures -- one of those things we warn others about.)
Here we were able to see people lined
up with their propane gas tanks meeting the truck where they would exchange empty
containers for full ones. There were three stores where we could shop. All were
frequented by the town's residents and were not just for tourists. In the stores we
found everything from meats, cheeses, and other foodstuffs, including ice cream, to vodka
and jewelry and kitchenware.
We were able to explore on our own and mingle with the town folks. However
we were generally ignored as people went about their business of daily living. One
unsettling exception was some children we encountered throughout our stay. Walking into
town we were greeted by children holding flowers and saying, " a present for
you." The catch was that when you accepted the "gift" the children asked
for money. Several other children approached us in town with open palms. These incidents
were the only clues we had that tourism had despoiled the authenticity of Goritzi.
A highlight of Goritzi was
visiting the home of Valentina, who welcomed us warmly, served us tea and homemade
pastries. She invited us to tour her home to see how people actually live. Luba's
relationship with Valentina goes back several years to when a tour group was in the area
and got caught in the bad rainstorm. Luba asked Valentina if the group could step
into her home just to get out of the rain. Since then Valentina has opened her home
to all of Luba's groups. We don't think anything was changed for the benefit of tourists.
Valentina was proud of the
exterior of her home since she had painted it herself.
The inside was small and
cluttered with various wall hangings and throws and included a portrait of Valentina and
her husband on their wedding day.
Both kitchen and bedroom were simply furnished.
Valentina was a joy and a gracious
hostess. Here she is pictured between two of our favorite people on the tour, Steve
and his wife. Steve who is around 80 is still competing in roller-skate dancing,
even though he had a serious brain injury a few years ago and was told he shouldn't skate
any more. This couple's Christmas greeting each year includes a picture of them in
whichever exotic country they have visited that year. In spite of his multiple
by-pass surgery, having to have a blood transfusion during one trip, and her difficulty
walking they were a true inspiration for fellow travelers and we loved being regaled with
his stories told only as a true Irishman can.
YAROSLAVL
Yaroslavl, known as the
"Florence of Russia" is the oldest city on the Volga and dates from the 11th
Century. It is preparing to celebrate its millennium in 2010. We saw a monument
commemorating its 975th anniversary in the city center that was placed there in 1985. The
city has long been a religious and political center and is purported to have the finest
examples of frescoes in Russia. We first visited the green domed Church of Elijah. It was
indeed a beautiful church inside and outside. The art was magnificent and the atmosphere
was made even more moving by the unexpected appearance of five men giving an a cappella
performance of sacred music and folk songs. We don't know if they were monks,
students or not, but their singing was so wonderful that we bought two of their CDs, which
we are listening to as we write this. However, our guide informed us that we should have
saved our money to buy CDs of the "professional" group we were schedule to hear
perform later that day.
The condition of the church
was excellent considering its recent past. It was closed as a church during the communist
era and was used as a warehouse. The church was said to have contained a piece of cloth
from the robe of Jesus which, unfortunately, disappeared sometime during the revolutionary
period. The frescoes were painted in 1680. The church was scheduled for destruction by the
Stalinist government, but a delegation from the congregation was so persuasive (and
courageous!) that Stalin issued an order sparing the church.
To the right you can see just a small portion of the gorgeous icons on a
door. The interior walls and doors are covered with frescoes in many of the Russian
Orthodox churches all over the country. Many were too dark inside to capture good
pictures and flashbulbs were prohibited. This is just one of those things that we
urge people to see in person in order to be able to fully appreciate them.
Yaroslavl had a very pleasant
town square and shopping area. It was nice place just to view the passing scene. We
watched an attractive young woman strolling down the middle of the street being slowly
overtaken by a group of Russian soldiers. During the whole time, they seemed oblivious to
one another, but several of the troops gave us disapproving looks for taking the
photograph.
Later in our trip we witnessed someone taking a picture of policemen in
the subway in Moscow and we thought the photographer was going to have his camera
confiscated. The photographer was oblivious to their anger as he went on his way.
Our guide was great in
informing us about customs and quick to point out anything we might find of interest.
Since it was Saturday, a popular day for weddings, we were lucky to see a few wedding
parties as they visited around town. This couple is posing for pictures in a local
park. We were told that one of the customs in Russia is for the bride and groom and
their party to visit all of the important places in town after the wedding ceremony and
before the reception begins.
The market off of the town
square offered a great display of local produce. It was very much like a farmers' market
in the states. It was a beautiful day, everything looked delicious, the prices were
more than reasonable and everyone seemed to be in fine spirits. These Russians, at least,
seemed to be happy with their free market economy.
The
children were dressed in their finest and we saw numerous
families doing their shopping here in the market as well as in the shopping center of the
city. We also saw young amorous couples strolling together. We were surprised to see how
skimpily dressed many of the young women were and public affection was quite
acceptable. (For more pictures of courting behavior in Russia you can look at our
courting page.) Here in this shopping area is one of the few
places we were able to find an ATM machine so we could get more rubles for the purchases
we still wanted to make.
Our last stop was at the Church of the Epiphany at the Monastery of the
Transfiguration. Its frescoes were also magnificent. Unfortunately, our guide just kept
going on and on about each fresco. She gave us more information than we could process or,
indeed, needed. The icons we saw throughout our trip were breathtaking. However, after a
while we began to get the feeling we had after visiting churches in Europe or Buddhist
temples in Japan. We could only take in so much and after awhile they all look alike, as
sacrilegious as that sounds.
Perhaps our guide was just stalling for time as we waited to attend a
concert by the city's famous a cappella chorus. The chorus has performed internationally
and won awards in Russia and abroad. The blending of the male and female voices was superb
and we enjoyed the concert immensely. A member of our group did not enjoy it -- he fell
asleep (in the front row) almost as soon as the singing began. It was obvious to everyone
and embarrassing to the group. Fortunately he didn't snore. At the conclusion of the
program, the conductor of the chorus went over to the slumbering tourist and clapped his
hands in front of the man's face very loudly. Still he did not rouse and when he
finally awakened, he didn't seem perturbed -- as some of the rest of us were.
Near the open-air market,
the shopping center, and within view of all this amazing Russian architecture is the town
square. We sat there by the fountains, noticed some nasty anti-American graffiti, and
watched children frolicking in the water, as we took in sights and sounds of the
city and waited to board our bus to return to the boat. That one bit of
Anti-American sentiment was the only one that we experienced our entire trip and we didn't
let it unsettle us for more than a brief moment.
Back on the boat we prepared for our visit to Kostroma, known for
its classical Russian architecture.
On to Kostroma and Uglich
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