Our cabin on the Nicholai Cherneshevsky, is located on the entry/reception level which is very handy to everything but quite private as the walkway outside the window is hardly ever used. The cabin is very small but fine with a fridge and good shower. The boat carries about 300 passengers and is very pleasant with two restaurants, two bars, conference rooms, and lounge areas. At first we used the bars and had drinks served at meals however we soon discovered that they were very expensive when compared with shop prices. Passengers started to do their own thing and later, talking to experienced Russian travelers, - it was open slather, people brought their own water and wine to the restaurant, asked the bar for glasses to serve their own wine or even to open their wine. Our English friends who are not used to BYO found it difficult. Wine sold on board was $25 for very poor Moldavian wine or $40 for slightly better but ordinary French. Russian beer is good, cheap and readily available. Meals on board were very good and we had a choice of two or three courses for both lunch and dinner plus a salad appetiser.

The boat travelled through many large deep locks raising and lowering through rivers, lakes, artificial lakes and canals- some part of hydro schemes. Some of the lakes were so large the horizon was water all round, (Lake Ladoga is the largest lake in Europe and Lake Onega is Europe's second largest lake), and we appeared to be in open sea. We travelled on the Volga and on the Volga-Baltic canal and encountered ice twice needing an icebreaker to open one area for us. Unfortunately we were not able to travel all the way across to Kizhi Island as the ice was too thick.

Our first excursion on the cruise was to the town of Uglich a founded in 1148 and containing many beautiful churches with their onion shaped roofs. Next town was Yaroslavl with more churches and Icons much gold leaf used. The town of Goritzy yet more churches and a fortified monastery. There are many monasteries and most were actually built to provide shelter/imprisonment for discarded wives -the Tsars constructed beautiful convents for their ex-wives.

We spent one night and half a day at Mandrogui (two hours would have been adequate)the village had been reconstructed fromhouses transported and rebuilt, a bit of a Russian Disneyland but the buildings were interesting. There were a variety of family farm homes for extended families with space for the animals out of the weather in the Winter. Many Master Crafts people were showing their skills as well as much for sale. One Matruska doll (of which there were hundreds to choose!) had 80 dolls which fitted inside each other.

Obviously built by a mafia mate of Putin as he had visited twice, even painted a Matruska doll there. We visited the museum of Vodka where they have 2670 different Vodkas and nothing else - four drinks were included in the price of the entry about $4. Adjoining is a small island accessed by man powered cable punt, meant to be a local zoo but mainly statues of animals and some very ugly local pigs. Someone told us how good it was but Don was smart enough not to go across even though Helen had bought his ticket.