Last day of sailing the lakes and rivers

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 Friday 9/28

Don’t know why, but Thursday night was the absolutely best night of sleep I’ve had since we left home.  I’ve been waking up at 2 or 3 am not able to get back to sleep, or not been able to get to sleep til 1 or so.  Last night was wonderful -- went to sleep around 9:30-10 and woke at 6.  We leave the boat for home on Monday Oct. 1 at 3:30 am to catch a 6:30 am flight.  So I’m sure we won’t sleep well Sunday night, but we’ll be on the plane forever Monday, with lots of time to sleep. 

We were given disembarking information this morning and it doesn’t sound as complicated as the two other cruises we’ve been on.

We arrived on Mandrogi Island about 11 this morning and had several hours on our own to wander around and watch artisans at work.  They painted fabric, and painted matroyshka dolls.  

 They carved, wove, made pots and jewelry.  Lots to see and even more to buy.  

 For those who wanted it, there was also “tourist junk”—particularly a child’s tee shirt with the picture of a nesting doll and the words “Russian Barbie”

The architecture on the island was very gingerbready with the eaves and windows of every house carved.  Many buildings had sculptures of alligators (or maybe dragons?) not sure why, but….

N looked in several shops for hard candy which he needs to suck on at night, but none was found.  Lots of chocolate was in every configuration, and there were nuts and Lay’s potato chips, but no hard candy.  Realize all the packages are printed in Russian and we bought some potato chops the other day with the English word STRONG on the along with various Russian words.  The were very tasty, but we couldn’t place the flavor.  And they were STRONG flavored.

We walked past a garden with a huge pumpkin ( a little lighter than they look in Texas, but perhaps it was a different type of pumpkin.  I noticed zucchini growing, cabbage, and rhubarb.  

 I saw what I thought were strawberry plants, but didn’t notice any berries on them.  The garden was prolific with flowers.  I was wondering how they could grow such lovely roses and mine die right after I get them in the ground..

We had a barbecue picnic on the island as part of our meals for the tour.  The previous night we had kebabs which turned out to be small meat loaves on a wooden skewer, so the idea of Russian barbecue was something to wonder about.   This meat (chicken or Pork) was grilled on a metal skewer over an open fire and was delicious. and plentiful.    I had wondered what Russians have as side dishes for a barbecue picnic and discovered that cucumbers and tomatoes were available along with a sort of cole slaw that tasted very sauerkraut-ish and there was a potato salad not unlike something that would be served in the U.S.   We had very interesting music during the meal and that was followed up with a cranberry dessert—a very tart torte.  Cups of red wine were available to be enjoyed with the meal and coffee/tea-- during dessert. 

If the weather had been better—not so drizzly and windy—we would have stayed on the island and walked around more, but we decided not to get chilled anymore or wet, so we went back to the boat.   

Next stop Saint Petersburg!