This was the third time I had made a reservation to visit Russia – and this time it came off. Hours on the computer, two interesting visits to Barcelona by train and various payments produced the necessary visas – so we arrived at St Petersburg by air in May.
The Viking Lomonosov was waiting ready to take us via numerous rivers and lakes the 1.000 or so kms to Moscow - Russia’s first natural highway. We had been told there were no lifts on board - 12 days later we had learnt what that meant. Never have legs been so well used! Warning – never go on a cruise without ascensores!
St Petersburg is the home of the world renowned Hermitage Museum - so vast, so over crowded with tourists , so overpowering in all its glory of magnificent sculptures, works of art, furniture, pictures and everything else.
This was an organised tour by Saga and of course you are expected to relish every onion shaped domed church – where worshippers never sit down; (there are no seats) and head scarves are provided for hatless lady visitors but after a while even the most wonderful pall a little. A diet too rich…?
Also overwhelming were the ready displays at every turn of the Russian dolls – you know the sort. Open the middle of the largest lady and there is a smaller one inside – and so on. “Matryoska”, their name in Russian, is the one word we remember.
Otherwise Russian language lessons on board were non productive. Drinking Vodka the Russian way – without hands – was a far more memorable lesson.
Overall the trip was somewhat disappointing. The river banks don’t claim to be exciting – the locks were spectacular – but the Russia we saw was so every day, so little noticeably “foreign”. In Spain it is easy to say she or he is Spanish in Russia there was so little distinction between the locals and the tourists except the lassies in Moscow were dressed superbly. (Moscow has GOM one of Europe’s most exciting shopping malls.) We were not made aware of the scandals of the present government nor of any problems with health care, or day to day living. But , boy! did we have the full history of Russia thrown at us. We know all about Peter the Great, Ivan the Terrible , the Romanov dynasty and the Golden Ring’s Kremlins as well as the one in Moscow’s Red Square.
Norman remembers especially the Russia girls- those of the crew who looked after us so well. They were quite delightful.
I was not too pleased when, after the vote, it was decided we would take our main holiday in Cape Town, South Africa, I had visions of a Soweto shanty town, severe poverty and rampant street crime, absolutely not so, not in Cape Town anyway.
The city boasts a wealth of different cultures and traditions, some of it reminiscent of the old British Commonwealth, the Dutch history and language and of course the Afrikaans.
English is the most widely used language, they drive on the left and talk endlessly about beating us at cricket and rugby.
We only stayed in CT for four days, it should have been longer, the theatres, concerts, shopping and superb eateries, not to mention the wines and everything so reasonably priced. In the newly renovated Victoria and Alfred dock area, its very similar to the Covent Garden and Canary Wharf with its street entertainment and refurbished dockside trendy buildings.
Like most busy cities you can use the 'hop on-hop off' bus for around £6 which will take you to the cable car station for Table Mountain, also only about 10 minutes out of CT theres Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. Even if you're not a gardener you can't help but be impressed by the magnificence of it.
We hired a car and drove down to the Cape of Good Hope, the most southerly point of Africa, only an hours drive down the coast and a chance to stop off on the way back to sample a fabulous seafood lunch and yes........ more superb wine.
About half a days drive easterly from CT you're right into the wine region, wineries with free tastings and tours and not being hastled into buying. In one vineyard, they had a local chocolatier make chocolate to compliment a rich red dinner wine, surprisingly a very good combination. We stayed in Stellenbosch, a big mistake, we were only there for one night, should have been much longer, a most lovely small historic university town with one main street where every other shop is a restaurant. We tried springbok, crocodile and warthog, all pretty delicious and didn't taste abit like chicken.
Its a pretty long trek along the garden route to Port Elizabeth where we picked up the safari. This area was once very much reknown for its sheepfarms, but with many years of drought, the sheep died off so the farmers amalgamated their land and formed safari parks. The animals were all bought in at first, now with expert help and animal husbandry they breed and replace themselves when the lions take the odd zebra or gazelle for lunch. We stayed in the actual farmhouse with the family, their forefathers were seventh generation Yorkshire immigrants and with the family tree and photos proudly displayed in the hallway, they were only too pleased to tell all. This was a most wonderful experience, the animals are up close, you see them from a Landrover with very knowledgeable guides and drivers, they also take picnics, wine and beer out on the 3 to 4 hour expeditions.
You may think the South African Tourist Board have paid me to write this, not so.....I can't wait to go back, this time we will stay longer, maybe do a house swap for the winter.
If anyone is thinking of travelling this route and would like some addresses and advice, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Sandy Bianco
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