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Cruise: Petropavlosk
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
Cruising the Pacific
The first 9 days on our cruise from Vancouver to Japan were at sea. The first port of call was Petropavlosk, Russia so this was our first trans-Pacific cruise. We had quite a party as we crossed the dateline! It was strange, going from Wednesday 10:00PM to Thursday 10:01PM at one time. We skipped Thursday entirely. Oh well, we’ll have to make that up on the way back.
In general, the water was smooth. Except one day, when we were in the fringes of a typhoon, which whipped the waves up to 30 feet high. Some people were sea sick, but we had no problems. Didn’t miss a meal.
One thing we like about trans ocean cruises is the activities. We had interesting lectures during the day, lots of music throughout the ship, shopping, and great entertainment at night. Certainly no time to get bored.
Looking back into the sun as we depart Vancouver harbor.
Our first sunset on the Pacific.
Romola getting caught up in the shopping frenzy. She doesn’t spend much, though.
One of the featured entertainers.
The ships own dance crew put on quite a show
Ida, enjoying one of our faborite places… the bar.
Big party as we crossed the international date line.
Doesn’t look bad in pictures, you should have been there….
One of the volcanoes at Petropavlosk.
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