The schedule for the third day was an afternoon tour at Goritsy. So, in the morning we had a cooking class. Not everybody wanted to try their hand at this but WE did!! We made pelmeni and blini. You might ask, "What are pelmeni?" I did, They are small, Russian ravioli. At least that's what they look like. We made meat stuffed pelmeni which were then boiled. They were GOOD!!! As were the blini.
In he afternoon, it was off to Goritsy. Granny decided to stay on board this time. We had a short bus ride to the monastery and then the tour.
<-- Kira, the cruise director, demonstrating how to make a blini and Andrew, the head chef, preparing the dough for the pelmeni.
This is a the remains of an old sunken church that we passed along the way. -->
The area surrounding Goritsy is primarily farms. Our excursion was to the Kirillo-Belozersky monastery. Most of the monastery is deserted, however there are still some buildings in use.
Entrance to the monastery is through a well decorated gate.
I was interested in the Russian Orthodox cross. It has 3 cross pieces instead of just one like the crosses we are used to seeing. Apparently there are many explanations for the 3 cross pieces but there is not a concensus as to the meaning.
Once again we were treated to a concert. Click on the picture to see and hear it.
There were the usual compliment of icons. Every religious site is filled with icons.
The spot is enjoyed by people of ALL ages. The site is beautiful as you look over the water you can enjoy the quiet beauty.
Most of the time we were cruising along the St. Petersburg-Moscow waterway. There were numerous sights along the way. Over the course of the six days we went through many locks. There are six locks just in the Moscow approach.
