Laninga's Travel Blog

Our first port of call was in Petropavlosk, Russia. This city has a lot in common with Juneau, AL in that it has no road access, about the same latitude, and a summer tourist spot. Beautiful surroundings, with volcanoes (dormant!) ringing the city. And lots of wildlife, and local fisheries. We took an organized tour so we could appreciate the city and surroundings.

Our first stop was a a new church, built high on a hill. The gold domes were visible from far away. We were somewhat surprised we could enter, as a service was going on. Even more surprised to see no benches, everyone was milling about, shopping the gift store, lighting votive candles etc. Certainly different than here.

Our second stop was at the Military Glory Museum, serving to remind people of the violent past. Old equipment was on display, as well as some typical Russian posters, showing tough soldiers storming the beaches. Not all that different from any military museums anywhere.

We then took the bus to a hill top to see the surroundings. Good view from on high! Along the way we visited several memorials to local heroes.

Our final stop was at a newly built market. Large and clean, this place had everything, especially if you wanted sea food. Didn’t know there was so much caviar available! We tasted some and it was excellent.

A final comment. Patropavlosk is the home of the Russian Submarine Navy. We were able to see two nuclear subs, albeit from a distance. In fact, they delayed a massive training exercise until our tour ship was out of the harbor. Whew!

The harbor is a very pretty scene

One of the volcanos. Look in the water, far right…

… and you can see one of the two nuclear subs on the surface.

Beautiful church, beautiful surroundings

Interesting tilework

Scenic building

Main hall with service in progress

Lighting candles in the church

One of the memorials

Lots of fruit, too

Our favorite – ready to eat king crab legs! $35 a pound!

Just how much caviar do you want? A gallon?

Dried fish? You want dried fish?

Inside the market hall… clean and large

Outside the museum

Military glory museum