We spent all of Wednesday morning sailing on the Volga River. Mid morning we came upon the flooded Belfry of Kalyazin. It was erected in 1800 as part of the St. Nicholas Cathedral on Kalyazin's Market Square. In the 1950's much of Kalyazin was forced to move to the higher bank as the low-lying portions were flooded to construct the Uglich Reservoir. Behind the belfry lies the town of Kalyazin, which today has a population of 15,000 people.
The belfry stands singularly amidst the waters making a beautiful and sad sight at the same time.
All along the river we witnessed the upkeep, and sometimes reconstruction, of village churches and monasteries. The similarities are evident in the onion domes, but each one has a personality of its own.
Passage through this lock, and shared with a working boat, takes us closer to our first stop at Uglich. We continue to progress down each step as though descending a huge ladder.
The lovely town of Uglich boasts many church domes, but the one we will visit is the pink and green one on the left. Talk about photo ops! Cameras were clicking in rapid succession as we made the bend toward our docking station. Uglich has a population of 37,000 but we will see only this riverside area on our visit.
Beyond these gates lie dozens of local "shops" featuring Russian handcrafts and souvenirs. It is a shopper's paradise! It's the end of the season and the shop owners are anxious to sell everything they can. We picked up some really good bargains on this day!
Graham met this lovely costumed lady on the bridge to the church. Our guidebook says about Uglich, "The City of Uglich is not in the present, it all lives in the past. Not much has changed since 1916."
This wooden structure lies adjacent to the Church of St. Dmitry on the Blood and the Transfiguration Chapel. It is a pleasant walk back through the shops to where the ship is docked.
As we leave Uglich and get underway down the river, the theme for dinner this night is "Russian Night." We are greeted at the door to the restaurant by wait staff dressed in bright red costume, herding us through a procession accompanied by the accordionist. What fun!
Tonight's soup is called "Solyanka," a Russian soup with assorted meat and vegetables. Dinner every night always started with an appetizer and soup. It was very easy to get spoiled at mealtime.
As part of the Russian Night celebration, all passengers who had purchased an article of Russian clothing, from Shawls to Hats and anywhere in between, were asked to wear their purchase to dinner. We then paraded around the dining hall and received a "prize," a tiny bottle of Russian vodka! I bought this beautiful shawl from a vendor in Uglich. It's one of my favorite purchases.
The evening ended with music and dancing in the President's lounge on the 4th deck. And we settled in for another restful night's sleep. Tomorrow we come to Goritsy.
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