He looks serious enough, doesn't he? However, we had lots to smile about as the views just slipped by:
Near Rybinsk -
So that we don't give you the wrong impression, these waterways are not just for the idyllic cruising of the likes of us and other tourists, but it is also a 'highway' for ships that ply constantly during the warmer months, carrying their cargos:
Then of course there were the many locks that we navigated. These were always an opportunity to go on deck and observe how our fair craft only just managed to squeeze through:
Of course, all this sightseeing is hard work and requires the necessary fuel to keep going. Such as an Afternoon Tea, with loads of 'no nos' like cream puffs, cakes etc etc. Sorry, they were all eaten by the time we thought of taking a photo (just kidding). Here is our host for the afternoon, who also happened to be our guide:
The day concludes and we express our gratitude as the sun sets on Lake Onega:
After another restful night, it's time for....yes, food. Breakfast as the world passed outside our window. And what a world!
Perhaps, these guys are catching their breakfast. But what a day to go fishing. Make the best of it fellows, because soon the river will be frozen over!
One of the sightseeing stops was Goritsy. This delightful photograph show us arriving at Goritsy:
The visit was primarily to look over The Monastery of St Cyril, which is now a museum and dates back to the 14th Century. Buses took us through the countryside for 8 kms to the town of Kirillov, where the monastery was located. We passed such delightful houses as this one:
Then the Monastery -
The Monastery housed a most amazing collection of Icons, which are included in the UN Heritage listings. We were fascinated and humbled to think that people those many years ago took such incredible care in recording their understanding of the Christian faith. And to think that all this survived despite the Communists!!
In fact it really surprised us to see so many churches back as worship centres. They were dotted along our route -
The next morning, the day started just beautifully. It was still and damp as the sun began to appear:
But it didn't last when the mist began to swirl around us. Soon we were at anchor as navigating these waterways in fog is a rather hazardous business.
Later in the morning we upped anchor and continued our idylic journey, this time navigating the Volga, finally arriving at our next sightseeing stop of Yaroslavl. Yaroslavl is a city that dates back to the 11th century! That is some history compared to our young country of Australia. The founding of Yaroslavl is attributed to Yaroslavl the Wise, Prince of Kiev. So let's have a peep:
Fantastic architecture - again!
Once again, a sunny day that brightens up our the scene:
We noticed a number of monuments that depict what the guide described as the trinity. The trinity however was about the three angels that visited the Patriarch Abraham, as recorded in the book of Genesis. This is one of those monuments.We finally walked to the city square where we saw the civic buildings and, what must be the pride of Yaroslavl - the Church of the Epiphany:
Note the different domes:
The interior was also very beautiful with well preserved frescoes and icons. Carol (and me too) loved the atmosphere:
During our visit into the church we were treated to some wonderful Russian singing by these young men. It added that extra something, surrounded by artwork of yesteryear:
War memorials are similar in most countries. Here is the one in Yaroslavl.
When we got back to the wharf, our ship was nowhere to be seen. It had to refuel and obviously was delayed because of the mist earlier that day. As the sun set, it got rather cold, and many of us were not quite prepared for that. The souvenir stalls and the buskers at least provided some diversion, until we finally saw our floating palace ready to dock:
The following morning saw an even longer delay due to fog, but we finally got under way heading to Uglich:
Yes, it was this beautiful and sunny, as the pic shows!
Well 'fair dinkum', finally, here is Uglich! We could only manage an hour even though there was so much to see. Here is our first view as we came in to dock:
We hope you are not bored with Russian Churches and Russian religious art, because we just have to place the following piccies on the blog:
Really picturesque. Just the glimmer of the blue domes was worth a second look. 
Uglich was a favourite city of Ivan the Terrible who was known for his bad temper. He exiled his 7th wife to Uglich and she lived there with their son Dimitri. Dimitri died under mysterious circumstances shortly after Ivan's death. Was he murdered to avoid him ascending the throne? Later a stone church was built on the spot where Dimitri was supposed to have died and this was finally replaced by the present structure, known as the Church of St Demetrius on the Blood. Gruesome, isn't it?
Next to this church is the cathedral of Transfiguration:
The interior of the cathedral is very impressive and contains a collection of magnificent baroque icons:
And artwork:
Time to leave this lovely spot and continue the cruise, first through the Uglich lock -
Looking on the other side, we see a Russian village setting -
The crew found it hard to believe that in this late part of the season, we had such fine weather and could sunbake (?!) on the sundeck:
The next photo has a rather sad history. The story was told to us by one of the guides, that this church was part of a village that was flooded. This was all part of the great Stalin plan to complete a waterway to Moscow. Sadly, as the story was went, the villagers chose to protest and staged a sit-in in the church, seeking to prevent the flooding. Alas, the flooding proceeded and we understand many were drowned:
As night settled on the last night of the actual cruise the Captain and his senior crew drank to our continuing good health:
Plus Julie and Tom helped us celebrate a great journey. We spent a number of most enjoyable meals together:
Goodnight! Next MOSCOW........
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