Explore More - 2019

106 VIKING.COM EXPLORE

106 VIKING.COM EXPLORE MORE 2019

WATERWAYS OF THE TSARS FROM RUSSIA with love A recent journey to Russia demonstrates how this magnificent country has changed since the late 1960s, says writer David Short Just outside Leningrad on a hot day in May 1969 during the cold war, my friend and I found ourselves being berated by an armed and very angry security official. He had stopped us for driving our car on the wrong, unauthorized road. After a lot of gesticulating and shouting, we were made to clean our car with a dry cloth and ordered to keep to our authorized route. This time, on a leisurely Viking river cruise, we found Russia a lot more agreeable. From the moment we arrived in St. Petersburg, we were superbly attended to by the friendly guides and staff right up until we were dropped off at the airport in Moscow 13 days later. It turned out that we had embarked on not just a sightseeing cruise but a journey of discovery into the heart, mind and soul of Russia. We were free to explore St. Petersburg and Moscow, plus several small towns and villages in between them, and even to meet Russians at home. There was also an opportunity to visit a kommunalka—a communal apartment for several families. Facing page: Inside the Church of St. Elijah the Prophet in Yaroslavl Below: Moscow’s Novodevichy convent, built in the 16th and 17th centuries We travelers were a mixed and international bunch, all keen to ask our hosts about various topics. And they did not shy away from any questions. The ship was a very comfortable base for the duration of our journey as well as our gentle transportation along idyllic rivers, lakes and canals between St. Petersburg and Moscow. Our first day in St. Petersburg began after an extensive breakfast and consisted of a full-day tour of the best of the three million artworks in the Hermitage Museum. These include works by Titian, Matisse, EXPLORE MORE 2019 | VIKING.COM 107