Russia scenes

[Deleted]

Just returned from 12 days in Russia. Cruised from Moscow to St. Petersburg and had a lot of fun as well as learning a great deal. Below are a few quick shots from my Fuji 600EXR P&S (My mate and I each carred one. More photos larer).

W.




Red Square. Lenin’s Tomb is the squat structure up against the Kremlin Wall on the left side of the photo. The wtindows of the building behind the Kremlin Wall at far upper left are allegedly Putin’s offices.



One of the ceremonial guards outside the entrance to the Kremlin . Man they look young.



On the Volga above Moscow I caught these rugs hauling some sort of small warship.



A guard dog at a bazaar booth at Uglich, Russia.



The runins of an old church at the entrance to White Lake.



Peter the Great’s coffin in the foreground on right in the Church of Peter and Paul, inside the Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg.



Church in the Monastery of St. Cyril



The moon over St. Basil's with Sara in the foreground.

[SuperDeluxe]

Nice set, Wayne. The "guard dog" made me smile from ear to ear. The old church on the lake looks like a place one could spend a whole afternoon shooting.

[julio1fer]

Beautiful views, but...no Kievs or FEDs or Zorkis? You really went on vacation!

[Deleted]

Actually there isn't enough left of the old church to do much more than a passing shot. The river is eating away at it.

I went in a second hand store in Yaroslaval. He had a shelf full of FEDs and Zorkis dating from the early '50s on. He was asking about $20 a camera. Problem was, the cameras I already have in my collection are much nicer than the ones that were for sale!!!

W

[daveh]

How the guard dogs in Russia have changed. The previous generation would have had you hand off, and probably wouldn't have stopped there.

Super series, Wayne. I look forward to seeing more.

[Deleted]

I found it interesting that most dogs we encountered were mutts, no purebreds - and most were large. When I tried to tell them "good dog" or something along that line they ignored me. Then it occurred to me that they normally get their commands and praise in Russian so my English probably didn't register with them. There was one dog that seemed to enjoy being petted by foreigners and returned the favor by trying to hump each petter's leg! It was pretty funny when an elderly woman from New Jersey fled in embarrassment when it happened to her.



Boat sheds along the river at Goritsy, Russia



Following the channel markers.



A variety of ships ply the St. Petersburg to Moscow water route during the summer months. On thing I didn’t expect was how flat the country is and the scarcity of evergreen trees.



A blaze of fall color along the river.

[Deleted]

Fountains at Peterhof, outside St. Petersburg.



Looking across the bay toward St. Petersburg from Peterhof, one of Peter4 the Great's summer palaces

[mickeyobe]

Wonderful pictures, Wayne.

Thanks.

Mickey

[Deleted]

Never thought I would be standing here.

[SidW]

Oct 8, 2013 9:21:29 GMT -5 @wayne said:

Never thought I would be standing here

Glad you made it Wayne. With pictorial proof that you were. Just below the wall behind you is the Russian WW2 memorial, with a section for every region. You may have noticed brides leaving their bouquets there after their marriage ceremony.

[Deleted]

We didn't get over to the wall, something I regret. It was the first full day in the city and we were still rummy from the flight. Always happens on such trips. There's no longer any long lines at Lenin's tomb but didn't try to go in as you can't even take a camera inside.

[daveh]

Great series, Wayne. I've not ventured to Russia. I'm sure it's a different place to when the cold war was it its "best". Just about the only way you could have got to stand there in those days would have been if you were a double agent. Presumably your badge says "Former CIA Agent"!

p.s. I presume the river is the Volga. Good story about the dogs. I met a woman from New Jersey once. Boy was she loud. It would be a real good ending if she proved to be the lady the dog tried to hump.

[Deleted]

The main part of the cruise was on the Volga -- a much larger river than I had imagined. Later we went though a series of rivers and lakes connected together by canals and locks. We hit Lake Ladoga outside St. Petersburg at night, during a storm, and the ship was really rocking and rolling. I was trying to walk across the rec room and got pitched into a group of people who were sitting along the side of the room. Fortunately no one was injured. Wasn't too bad once you got it bed--sort of rocked us to sleep (although I left the cabin door unlocked so we could get out quickly if necessary).Two other cruise ships following us stopped and waited for the storm to abate before entering the lake.

[daveh]

It's a big lake, the Ladoga. I've just looked it up and it's the 15th largest (by surface area) in the world.

what size was the ship? I was originally thinking that it would have been a fairly typical river cruiser but I presume now it was something larger. Were the passengers from all parts of the globe or perhaps mainly Russia? It's noticeable that more Russians are able to afford holidays now. Egypt in the winter months seems to be a favourite destination for them.

[Deleted]

The Zosima Shashkov is 423 feet long, built in the DDR in 1983 and was remodeled in 2004. Don't know the displacement. Carries about 300 passengers and a crew of about 75. Top speed listed at 16 knots. Much larger than the ship we were on on a Budapest to Amsterdam cruise a couple of years ago. It definately was designed to handle rougher conditions than the European cruise boats. But I don't think it had stabilizers like the ocean-going cruise ships. The ship had a least three different tour groups aboard. There was a group of people from Brazil, a small Russian group and the rest, about 2/3, were Americans and Canadians. The shipping company just leases blocks of rooms to different travel agencies. Each group had its own guides and interpreters--that included people from the ship's crew and the travel agency..