ALL ABOARD THE LOVE BOAT

I think the sunset on the outset of this weekend boat trip speaks for itself. I took so many pictures as I have never seen a more beautiful sky. We were sitting in the dining room at the time and this was taken through the window of the boat just as it embarked on its journey. The timing was absolutely perfect to get this composition!

VALAAM

The purpose of the boat trip, other than just a fun weekend away on a boat, was to visit the above mentioned island and it's famous monastery which is the focus of many a pilgrim in the Orthodox church.

LIFE ABOARD THE JOLLY ROGER

I don't actually know what the boat was called and if I did I probably couldn't translate it to English.

We arrived around 7.00 pm to discover we were absolutely the only foreigners on board and absolutely nobody spoke more than two words of our mother tongue, so with our limited amount of Russian it was always going to be a challenge.

However, we ascertained that we were booked onto the first sitting for our evening meal. We were allocated half an hour to complete our meal before we would be kicked out for the staff to prepare for the next sitting! Whilst waiting alongside a gaggle of very hungry Russians outside the restaurant for the doors to open and the gobble fest to begin on time, we contented ourselves by deciphering the menu. It told us the weight of the portions at the end of each item, for example, bread 100 grams, chicken, 120 grams, rice 50 grams etc.! A far cry from our trip around South East Asia on Sun Viking!

When the dining doors opened everyone fell in and ran to their tables. We were luckily in front of the window, hence the great photograph, and were able to watch from the dining table as the boat set sail. Two ladies were put on the table with us and we felt like alcoholics as they drank tea and we ordered a glass of wine each (we would have had a bottle but didn't have time at the table to drink it!) The women were very sweet but of course it is a bit awkward when one can't communicate and even more so when one tries! However, we did manage and even had a couple of laughs which was just as well as they sat with us for every meal during the weekend. I suppose we were lucky to have our own berth without being paired up.

MORE ABOUT THE FOOD

Let's just say it reminded me of when I was a child in post-war Britain, simple and cheap and cleverly improvised. I was delighted that every desert was enhanced with artificial cream which brought back memories of visits to the bakery with my Auntie Jessie who would always buy me a cake with this type of cream and I loved it and apparently I still do!

I must point out that this was not a 'cheap' weekend, at least not for us foreigners, as typically for Russia the boat company has a two tier price system, one price for them, another, considerably more expensive for foreigners. I may be wrong here but I don't think I have come across this system anywhere else in the world.

MANCHESTER UNITED V ST. PETERSBURG

Our cabin was just down the corridor from the television room where about 100 people were screaming with delight as St. Petersburg beat Manchester United. We didn't sleep well, the match was a late starter and we are two hours ahead Monaco (that's where they were playing).

VALAAM

We awoke to decent weather, which was extremely lucky as it had been raining all week. After a really strange porridge laced with butter and a couple of apple pancakes we set out on our first tour of the morning which was to be a walking tour. One thing I will say about this walking tour, other than the fact that it was very slow and that the scenery and air were lovely is that the guide could talk the hind legs off a donkey and of course we didn't have a clue what he could possibly be saying about the pine trees and the lakes that took so long. It was pleasant all the same.

After lunch we went on a smaller boat around the island to the monastery. Because we are not Orthodox it's significance was lost on me but one thing I will remember is all the monks. They have long, straggly grey hair, really dirty looking clothes and look just Rasputin did. I always associate religious followers with bodily cleanliness, seems I'm wrong. I get the whole simple poverty thing but..

All in all a good weekend. Although we couldn't talk with the people on the boat very much they were very warm and friendly, that is until it was time to disembark at the end of the weekend. It was back to pushing and barging as in the bread queues of the communist days, just to get off the boat and to the metro station! FUN FUN FUN!!!