Day 7: Yaroslavl in Russia Travel Log

We spent the morning in Yaroslavl. That is supposed to be an industrial town but we weren’t taken anywhere near industrial buildings. Instead we went to the old part of the town, where there are two churches in every block - there are more churches there than there are Starbucks in Manhattan. We went first to the old Red Square of Yaroslavl, where we went inside of the church of ascension (there was a mass preparing to go on, and the bishops were waiting for some important figure - the guide said it’s probably the magistrate/minister of the town). The bells are not in a tower but off to the side in a lawn inside a cage, with the bell players inside the cage. It was interesting to see them work. Next to the church is a park with the vista of the confluence of Volga and Kotorosl, so that made for a good photo op.

We then bus to the local market for shopping. We were looking for chocolate to get, and it was easy to find. The cruise also lined up a bunch of tasting stations for us, so we tasted some local cheese, salami, ham, etc. In the end we didn’t spend much time in the market, but rather went off to a park in front of the government office up Deputatskaya street (our bus were there) where there was a temporary exhibit on the local history.

Next, we took the bus to the Governor’s house, where a local guide talked about the art work collected there as well as some traditions at the governor’s. In part of the tour, she asked a riddle, and the first one to answer it got to sit at the governor’s office chair to have her picture taken. The riddle was, what is useless if it stays with its master, but when it leaves its master, it would bring him valuable goods. La Professeure, being the smartest in the group, got it before I did, but she pretended not to. So I ended up sitting in the chair. At the end of the tour, they had a little concert and dance performance prepared. Both were pretty middling - it was a string trio and five dancers doing polka and Viennese Waltz. But they made it entertaining by inviting the audience to participate in the dancing.

We then headed to Elijah’s church, where we were allowed inside and took pictures. It was nice, but at this point we’ve been into so many churches that they all look similar to us: the wall is covered with fresco, two pew, and a wall of icons. Everything decorated in gold.

By the time we got back to the ship it was only 11:45am, but we cast off pretty early. So now we have a whole afternoon of free time. Of course Viking fills it up with lectures and activities, so I’m sure we will be kept busy if we let them.

In the afternoon we went to a talk on Soviet Russia and at night a game night (which we won). That was all fun and good, but I would have rather spent the time in Yaroslavl.

Last updated April 04, 2020