Bob and Ann in Russia 2007

Please visit August 31 slideshow.

Vacation House in Mandrogi

There was no rush this morning because we docked at the small craft village of Mandrogi at 9:00 and joined our group at 10:00 for a little orientation walk around this 10 year old tourist resort. After checking out the pricy souvenirs, we bought the fabled berry pie at the inn just before we were called to our Shaslik barbeque lunch. We were seated at picnic tables in a huge covered dining area and served shiskebab and all of the Russian condiments by our boat's kitchen crew. It was delicious even after pie.

Tired Moose in Mandrogi

Before returning to the M S Chernyevsky, we set out to find the promised moose corral with George, Mary, Phil and Jeri. We enjoyed the walk under threatening skies and saw two sad moose who were lying down inside the corral.

We were on board again by 1:00 and set sail for St Petersburg which was the predominant topic for the rest of the afternoon. During the farewell cocktail party in the Panorama Bar, we were treated to a rain squall as we entered Lake Lodoga, the largest lake in Russia. We had been warned earlier to remove all breakable belongings from shelves in our cabin as rough seas were expected. We transferred our bottle of vodka to a safe spot on the floor.

After farewell cocktails and dinner, seas got rough. By the end of the very funny talent show, we were really rolling. We had a good night's sleep, though.

The map of our route from Kizhi to Mandrogi is below. To see it in Google Earth, follow this link.