Shelestoff Hotel Kostroma

... up helping us lug our bags to Andrew's car, for which Dad tried to tip him (groan!), but of course, he refused the tip--threw up his hands and backed away shaking his head, muttering in German... Right as we left, he made a little bow, kissed my hand and waved farewell--all very gallant. Oddly, the 5 hour drive didn't seem quite so long this time, even though we didn't have anything exciting to look forward to, except for more traveling.

... 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 ...

Back to the Ministry again on day three. My parents decided that they wanted to try for another child (or two) and it was time to figure out who we would petition for. The Ministry official (in a less offending color that I can't remember) basically asked my parents what they wanted. How on earth does a person answer that question?! A kid is not something you go shopping ...

... girls that we had originally intended to adopt were no longer available for adoption because their babushka had decided to take patronage of them, which takes them off the available list. Dad spoke our case really well, but this was one of those situations where we really couldn't do anything--the girls really were no longer available. The Ministry official was kind and told my parents to take the night to think over whether they want to try for ...

We arrived at our hotel, The Tourist, and got checked in with the help of Andrew. We met with Irina (our lawyer for the adoption) and Natasha (our translator and an English teacher at the local university). Mom and Dad explained their thoughts of how the proceedings with the Ministry of Education were going to go and Irina told them up ...

Up early today as we arrive in Yaroslav 8am and city bus tour starts then. We had a very good and knowledgeable guide who showed us through the Monastery, Cathedral and main park area. They still have Lenin's statue standing her and the street names stay the same as they are a pragmatic bunch here. Also an hour for looking around but no room in bags for anything. Back on Ship which had been moved in our ...

... bank. It was a Sunday and groups were out in force having picnics. Then I realized it was literally The Force. It appeared from the amount of people in combat clothes saying goodbye to their girlies & mates that they had been 'called up'. But of course, Russia states they are not at war with Georgia. The bombs they dropped in Georgia and their capital veered way of course. I digress. The river bank was littered with empty beer bottles, fag packets and ...

... 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!

... culture!!!!! At the Vodka tasting party, five types of vodka were sampled - Stolichnaya, Moskovskaya, Piertsovka, Starka and Lemonnaya. They were served with traditional appetizers (zakuskas) - caviar and herring. We then had a Russian Blini Dinner - Russian pancakes accompanied by caviar and Russian vodka and we were asked to go dressed up. Many didn't get dressed up but Graham and I went as Russians and got into the fun of it all. A GOOD NIGHT !!!!!

... is the place where the Romanov family (the last dynasty of the imperial Russia) originated, so the Ipatievsky Monastery there has a special museum and exhibition dedicated to this family. All the royal family members were killed after the October Revolution in 1918. The statue of the person giving the order to execute them, Lenin, is still standing tall across the river. Just like onion-domed churches, the ...