Best Eastern Yubileynaya Hotel Yaroslavl

Hey guys,

Some of the more memorable moments from our trip:

Live fish brought to the table at dinner our first night...tobogganing down the hill from the Great Wall...the Forbidden City...walking through hutongs at night...bargaining...looking for camera batteries...looking for soldiers in Tienanmen square...border crossings...bogie changing...dinosaur bones in Ulaan Baator...illegal photos...horseback riding...ger camp...buuz making...archery ...

... was where her family lived, that's where she'd go. We showed her pictures of our family and home in America. One picture of Mom and Dad had been taken in Hawaii. She looked at it and said "Is that real?!" She couldn't believe that the photo hadn't been taken in a studio with a fake background. When we got back to the Tourist, we had to get packed and check out of our room. While I was standing guard with the luggage, and Dad was ...

... watched Mickey Mouse cartoons after we got out of the way. Mom and Dad spent lots of time talking to the caretaker and taking endless notes. The doctor--I'm not sure if he was there that day or the next day, but they talked to him too. Finally, we got to meet Elena, who turned out to be the red-headed girl. She was kind of shy (can you blame her?!), but super sweet and polite. After we talked a bit inside, we went ...

... breakfast only tea without milk -that's the usual Russian way. We arrived at a Monastery and I spied a coffee shop in the grounds and tried to make a break for it but the "Babushka" (russian word for old lady) tour guide grabbed me and wouldn't let me leave the group - she thought I would get lost or something. I was insisting on getting a coffee but i don't think the guide understood, and I didn't know the Russian for "if I don't get a coffee I'm ...

... language learning as well today. Just a few phrases but nothing very easy in the language. In the end the guide was showing folk dancing steps. There was also a welcome drink for Cosmos passengers which we joined in to. The guides welcomed all and told a few humorous stories. (Must remember the traveller's poem). After dinner the band played some folk music. Many of the tunes were familiar. Then to bed.

... forgotten. Successfully arrived at midday at Yaroslavl. The center has a great mixture of architecture, religion & trees. Add to that a drop of water, the Volga River winding through and you have my recommended Trans-Siberian stop over. OK it may have helped that there was blue sky throughout! This was also the first Russian tourist spot where it was easy to rent a bike. Or even Rollerblades!

... They had locally produced lacquer boxes, which Russia is famous for, and Graham bought a beautiful one made from abalone shell. We visited churches, saw cats which the city is famous for and walked through the town and markets - the delicatessen was very interesting. In the afternoon we attended a talk by Professor Inna Gritsenko on "The Communist Experiment in Russia." The lecturer said surveys had shown that the Russian people felt the happiest in ...

080711 Yaroslavl I read in Discover Magazine that procrastinators are disorganized, not very dutiful, and are probably impulsive. Yup. Fits me. Yaroslavl will celebrate its millennium anniversary in 2 years. Its most fascinating sight is the Church of St. Elijah, which is covered with icons, the walls, the 2 columns, the ceiling, every square inch. The icons are painted in bright blues, reds, golds. I could hear very little as ...

Some photos of the most insane trainride so far... Nat and I went in different directions from Yekaterinburg. So, I had a cabin full of drunk Russian men all to myself...YAY!!?????... Endless remarks about how beautiful I am (ehhh...gag...), about why I'm not married, and how come I won't marry one of them.... But, all in all, an experience...

... page on my website for this song "Kalinka"..... Even on the sailing boat, we can still see a lot churches along the shore. All with onion-domed, of course..... And then, there is another concert "Russian Folk Music" performed by our on-board musicians. It was a day really full of activities. Guess what? The concert ended with the song "Kalinka." Kalin-ka kalin-ka maya, Kalin-ka kalin-ka maya, Kalin-ka kalin-ka maya, Kalin-ka kalin-ka maya......