Yaroslavl, Russia

Tuesday 19th July 2011

Around 7.0 a.m. we arrived at Yaroslavl and berthed at a modern terminal with one other river cruiser already moored astern of us. After an early breakfast, I decided to go for a walk on my own since the arranged City Tour was not until nine o’clock. The river embankment has been improved and provides an attractive place to watch the river traffic. I walked as far as the modern road bridge over the river and then turned inland. Building work was in progress on various sites creating good quality multi-storey apartments. But the majority of apartments were old and in poor maintenance. Each sheet-steel street door gave access to a number of apartments. Ground floor windows were invariably heavily shuttered. Quite a few people were about, making their way to work. I saw trolley buses, many with lady drivers, and battle-scarred local buses. Most of the traffic was private cars, comprising, it seemed to me, rather more battered specimens than I’d seen around Moscow.

Yaroslavl is situated at the confluence of the Kotorosi River and the Volga. It became an important manufacturing town in the nineteenth century and was joined to Moscow by railway in 1870. In the Soviet era, manufacturing was further developed featuring vehicle and tyre production. More information can be found on Wikipedia.

Our coach trip took us first to the recently-rebuilt park flanked by the two rivers, neatly laid out with manicured gardens. The war memorial here has an Eternal Flame and two huge carved blocks of stone – one commemorating the contribution of servicemen, the other acknowledging the contribution of those left behind who managed to keep industry and home life going. Within the park, we then visited the huge Assumption Cathedral in traditional style with five large gilded domes. It was actually a completely new creation, opened last year!

The Bell Tower at the Transfiguration Monastery.

The 12th century Transfiguration Monastery right in the centre of Yaroslavl is an ancient, walled enclosure with an interesting collection of buildings. This was our next detination. It’s principally a museum with numerous souvenir shops and cafes. You can also pay to see a captive bear (I didn’t). The bear has a nice enclosure and I’m sure is well looked after but I can’t approve of animals in captivity. The bear has been the symbol of Yaroslavl for a thousand years since Prince Yaroslav impressed the local tribes by wrestling and killing a bear they’d set upon him. However, I was able to enjoy a display of bell ringing. A number of bells, the largest about two feet tall, had been set up on a portable stand. A piece of string was attached to each clapper and the remote ends of the strings were tied together. The bell ringer stood holding the bundle of strings and by deftly twisting his wrist and plucking strings individually with his other hand, he was able to produce remarkable tunes.

On leaving the monastery, the Market and the ATM machines were pointed out to us and we were given almost an hour ‘free time’ to shop or explore. The population of Yaroslavl is around 600,000 and it was interesting to watch people going about their business. With manufacturing industry currently in a depressed state in Russia, tourism is particularly important and they are keen to encourage both Russian and foreign visitors. I wandered round a few city blocks, through the dry goods market and the (very clean) food market. I ended up in a square flanked by a modern building also containing a small, restored 19th century chapel. The large fountain was popular but I wasn’t sure about the tall tower in the centre of the fountain with three working television screens.

Fountains with Television, Yaroslavl

The gardens appeared to be hosting some sort of light-hearted gardening competition, for numbered areas contained, for example, a rather cartoon-style deer and a car. I think you needed to be Russian.

We then drove to the former residence of the Governor of Yaroslavl. This was an agreeable 18th century building overlooking the river. The former Governor was an art collector so the building has now become the Yaroslavl Museum of Russian Art. There's a website (in Russian) here but you can click on 'English' for a translation. With an imaginative flair, the female guides are in period dresses and claim to be daughters of the Governor. We were shown through a number of rooms with pictures on display. Works by ‘Anonymous’ and ‘Unknown’ were common but I was delighted to see one painting of the Moscow Kremlin by my new hero Vereshchagin. The Governor’s office was very well laid out with his desk and artefacts and it offered wonderful views across the river. In the ballroom, we were treated to a glass of sparkling wine whilst we listened to a trio in period dress (piano, violin and viola) play. Two of the Governor’s 'daughters' then danced for us, before each selected a surprised male partner from the visitors for a lively dance.

The former Residence of the Governor of Yaroslavl.

The coaches returned us to the ship by 1.45 p.m. and at two o’clock, the ship slipped away from the quay to continue our journey. I’ve not said much about life on the ship but the meals have proved varied and enjoyable. In addition to food, there are also lots of shipboard activities, most of which I’ve not taken. For instance, after we left Yaroslavl, the following was on offer during the remainder of the day:-

- Talk on Russian Vodka (with tasting)
- Demonstration of cooking Blinys (Russian pancakes – also with tasting)
- Lecture on ‘Russia in the last 25 years’ (I attended this)
- Live piano music in the Melody Bar
- Lecture on ‘Russian Costumes’
- Balalaika Concert

In addition, the satellite television in each cabin had 11 channels, with occasional special-interest videos like ‘Catherine the Great’. All-in-all, we were kept fairly busy.

My pictures of Yaroslavl are here.

Uglich, Russia

Monday 18th July 2011

With no hint of the rain we’d had in Moscow, Monday was sunny and warmed up to 30 degrees Celsius. Approaching Uglich, we were lowered another 11 metres by a further lock. Here, a Triumphal Arch across the canal had been provided at the upper entrance. I gather this had been built by German prisoners. As we entered the lock, we were followed by two small boats which tied up on the opposite lock wall to us and ‘locked through’ with us. Each had about eight men in some sort of naval uniform. I rather imagine they were cadets.

The Triumphal Arch at the entrance to Uglich Lock. The upper gate is being raised. The two rowing boats can be seen bottom left.

Shortly after leaving the lock, we made a broad, sweeping turn to the right to approach the town of Uglich (population around 35,000). We moored at a pontoon near a modern white building which turned out to be an ‘Intourist’ hotel. From our mooring, we could clearly see the hydro-electric installation near the lock which uses the Volga to generate electricity. By this time, the small boats had caught up with us, six oarsmen in each boat producing a fine sight. I didn’t see where they went.

We were to be divided into lunch groups of about 12 to have lunch in a typical Russian home, deliberately with no interpreter present to make it more interesting. A series of 20-seat local minibuses had been chartered to deliver us to our hosts. With around 190 passengers to be moved, this was quite a logistical problem and required each bus to make two trips from the landing stage. A very bumpy journey of about ten minutes took my lunch group and one other past derelict-looking factories and fairly basic four-storey apartment blocks to a lane with a number of traditional wooden houses. We were then divided between two houses participating in this interesting experience. We met our charming, mature red-headed hostess who spoke not a word of English and she invited us into her home. Her husband (also rather red-headed) was there to meet us but, duty done, he very quickly absented himself. There was a short, narrow staircase to negotiate to reach the living area. A long table (or, more likely, two or three tables) had been laid for a party of twelve with an assortment of chairs and a settee. Once we were seated we were plied with an alcoholic drink. We were unsure whether it was a home-made produce or not but everybody agreed it was very strong. The meal started with a delicious cabbage soup using home-grown vegetables. The main course featured a plentiful supply of large boiled potatoes supported by a range of vegetables, meat and a sardine-like fish. Sweet buns filled with jam formed the dessert. Our hostess for lunch with two of her guests. Note the large tapestry on the wall.

It was a merry occasion and our hostess proudly showed us around her garden which produced all the vegetables until suddenly, realising the time, she shooed us back to the waiting minibus for the bone-shaking ride back to the town centre.

In the town square, we sorted ourselves back into our accustomed groups (Red, Yellow, Green etc.) for our walking tour. Back in Moscow, I had chosen the Yellow Group which was for Active Walkers. We were introduced to our local guide and set off for a walking tour of Uglich’s Kremlin, a peaceful, partly wooded area with a number of historical buildings adjacent to the river. The town’s name is derived from the Russian word ‘ugol’ meaning ‘angle’, because of the sharp turn made by the Volga River here.

It’s a historic place. Ivan the Terrible gave the town to his two year old son Dmitry. On Ivan’s death Tsar Fyodor banished his stepbrother Dmitry and his mother to Uglich. Seven years later, in 1591, Dmitry was murdered here, it was believed by Fyodor’s henchman Boris Godunov. A church was built at the site of the murder and we visited the present church built in 1692 called the Church of Prince Dmitry-on-the-Blood.

The Church of Prince Dmitry on the Blood, Uglich

Next, we visited the Palace of the Princes of Uglich built in 1480 and now the town museum.

Finally, we were seated in a building which doubles as a concert hall and art gallery where five local singers calling themselves ‘Koucheg’ sang a capella, supported by a marvellous bass singer.

We were then on ‘free time’ until 5.45 p.m. so I was able to explore the charming town on foot, photographing churches and other buildings.

Whilst we were on our town tour, two more river cruisers had tied-up at a small jetty adjacent to our mooring. As we left Uglich, just after 6 p.m., another river cruiser was arriving to moor in our place. Tourism is clearly very important but, of course, many of the tourists are from the Russian Federation itself.

Later that night, we entered the man-made Rybinsk Reservoir. This was created by damming the Volga to raise its level and allow the construction of hydro-electric installations which provide power to the surrounding area. We continued sailing through the night, in order to reach our next stopping point, Yaroslavl early the next morning.

Pictures:
Uglich Lock
Uglich Town