Thursday, 18 July. We got up at 6:00 because Jane had to see the boat's doctor before breakfast. The Tolstoy docked in Yaroslavl (@km V-520) at 7:30. We took the bus for the city tour soon after. Once the second largest city in Russia, it is still quite large, with more than 600,000 residents. However, our tour focused only on the old historical sections.

Yaroslavl kremlin park

Our first stop was at the city's kremlin (or rather the site of the old kremlin) on an embankment along the Volga,. No walls and few buildings remain; the area is now a large park. It features a planting design showing a bear and the number 992. This alludes to the city's founding in 1010 (992 years ago) when Prince Yaroslav killed a bear sicced on him by the hostile local tribesmen.

From the Kremlin, the bus took us to the walled Transfiguration Monastery (12th century). We were greeted by a bell-ringer's performance in the courtyard, then toured the monastery grounds. There were two churches within the walls. Visible over the monastery walls was the Bogoyavleniya Church (1693), one of the hundreds of "private" churches once built by the city's wealthy merchants. Apparently anyone who could afford to do so was allowed to build such churches, as long as they were Russian Orthodox. 

Bell-ringer at Monastery

Transfiguration Monastery

Bogoyavleniya Church

Doors in iconostasis

Elijah the Prophet

 

We then were taken to the Church of Elijah the Prophet (1650), with a splendid iconostasis (icon screen separating the nave from the altar area). Not being serious icon buffs, however, we were more impressed by the elaborate golden doors in the screen.

On leaving the church, our guide had the bus make a short stop at a museum where a vendor of lacquer boxes had set up shop in an empty room. We don't particularly like these guide-arranged sales because we know his commission is included in the price. However, we found a beautiful box from Kholui with "The Snow Maiden" on the cover and bought it. It didn't compare to the exquisite Fedoskino boxes we had admired in the Tolstoy's gift shop but, on the other hand, it didn't cost $1,000 as those did.

Folk show in Yaroslavl

The bus then took us to the Yaroslavl Concert Hall for a very lively folk show. We got back to the boat at noon, just before it sailed. Because the sail to Yaroslavl had been a side trip of over 60 miles in the opposite direction from St. Petersburg, we were now retracing our steps.

After lunch I went to the Professor's lecture on "Relationships between Russia and the Former Soviet Republics." (Jane listened on the radio in our cabin.) Again he was excellent. The lecture was followed at 4:00 by the first Russian language class, taught by our Tour Director, Marina. This, too, was excellent. Although I already could recognize most letters of the Russian alphabet, this was my first clue as to proper pronunciation. We skipped the presentation on Russian art at 5:00 and the vodka tasting at 6:00 in favor of a little reading and rest. 

Jane with Natasha,  our favorite waitress

Busy lock

 

Just before dinner we entered the largest and busiest lock we had seen. Three other boats were in it with the Tolstoy, leaving them only inches apart. We had dinner at 7:00 while still in the lock. It was "Russian night" when the waitresses wore native costumes and all the courses were Russian. After eating, we spent the rest of the evening reading and resting some more.