BELGIUM | Monday, 31 Aug 2015 | Photo Gallery
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BELARUS | Friday, 28 Aug 2015 | Views [760]
THE USSR MAY BE A RELIC OF THE COLD WAR but the news of its demise hasn’t reached the BSSR, the Belarus Soviet Socialist Republic as it was once known. The largest building in Minsk still houses the KGB. The government, a republic ... Read more >
BELARUS | Wednesday, 26 Aug 2015 | Photo Gallery
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RUSSIAN FEDERATION | Monday, 24 Aug 2015 | Views [356]
THE KREMLIN TOUR WAS A SURPRISE. Instead of government buildings reminiscent of Washington DC, the area inside the red walls contained mostly churches. Odd, we thought, for a country that had pretty much outlawed religion for the better ... Read more >
RUSSIAN FEDERATION | Sunday, 23 Aug 2015 | Views [321]
NEWS REPORTS FROM MOSCOW ALWAYS made it seem that Red Square and St. Basil’s Cathedral were all part of the Kremlin. Not so. Actually the word “kremlin” refers to a wall surrounding a settlement, quite common in Russia.... Read more >
RUSSIAN FEDERATION | Saturday, 22 Aug 2015 | Views [343]
YAROSLAVL SOMEHOW ESCAPED THE SOVIET architectural plague, retaining the buildings of 17 th and 18 th Century merchants. It also has more onion domes than you can shake a stick at, boasting fifteen domed churches in all, including the ... Read more >
RUSSIAN FEDERATION | Friday, 21 Aug 2015 | Views [377]
TEARS RAN UNABASHEDLY DOWN DAVE’S CHEEKS as the champagne cork popped. He and Margaret are celebrating their 50th anniversary on this cruise. Table mates Marianne from Scotland and Aussie Penny shouted them to some bubbly — Connie ... Read more >
RUSSIAN FEDERATION | Tuesday, 18 Aug 2015 | Views [281]
NO ONE REMARKED ON OUR RAGGEDY-ASS outfits as we sipped champagne and the Chernyshevsky eased out into the current last evening. A cruise, like a well-staged musical, needs to open with a blockbuster, and ours was St. Petersburg. Things ... Read more >
RUSSIAN FEDERATION | Sunday, 16 Aug 2015 | Views [235]
WE ARE TRAVELERS MASQUERADING AS TOURISTS, but I fear our travel-worn clothing gives us away. We will probably be refused entry to the Captain’s cocktail party this evening; passengers are requested to “dress elegantly.” ... Read more >
RUSSIAN FEDERATION | Saturday, 15 Aug 2015 | Views [283]
ACTUALLY IT’S THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION, not the USSR. But the old Beatles song has a better ring to it, don’t you think? We flew in yesterday from Kiev, not totally trusting Aeroflot enough to arrive the same day our cruise begins.... Read more >
RUSSIAN FEDERATION | Friday, 14 Aug 2015 | Photo Gallery
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UKRAINE | Friday, 14 Aug 2015 | Views [362]
[✔]RUSSIA VISA; [✔]BELARUS VISA; [✔]AIRLINE TICKETS. It seems that our work in Kiev is finished and we are booked solid until the end of the month. Now it’s time to explore a little. We booked into the Stan Gret Hotel which is ... Read more >
UKRAINE | Saturday, 8 Aug 2015 | Views [369]
“LOVING” MIGHT BE OVERENTHUSIASTIC, but I can get behind “liking Lviv.” Six days is twice as long as the city warrants but staying in this World Heritage town makes as much sense as waiting in Kiev for our Belarus visas.... Read more >
UKRAINE | Wednesday, 5 Aug 2015 | Photo Gallery
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UKRAINE | Tuesday, 4 Aug 2015 | Views [428]
WE SACRIFICED THE DAY TO THE WINGED and oh so capricious goddess of travel, arising at four for our six-thirty flight to Kiev. We hardly expected to leave on schedule — Ukraine Int’l Airlines is batting 0 for 4 for on-time departures ... Read more >
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