On the Way to Kizhi

We are on Lake Onega on our way to our next port, Kizhi, which will reach in the late afternoon.

Russian Song Class–Movie

There were various activities to keep us occupied until we reached Kizhi. One I partook in was the Russian Song Class. I took a movie of one of the songs the class sang, with the help of Irina, Daria, and Alina.

Ukranian Cuisine Day

We had this salad for lunch. I don’t think it was necessarily Ukranian for Ukranian Cuisine Day but what an interesting idea: using a cucumber cut lengthwise to put a salad into. The salad was tasty.

Ukrainian Cuisine Day

Two soups on the menu were Ukranian borsch with beef, garlic buns, and sour cream and carrot cream soup toasts with paprika. I had the borsch. It was so–so, but I’ve never had borsch before so I couldn’t compare it to one I had before. However, it did taste a lot like yesterday’s French onion soup.

The Island of Kizhi

The island is about 5 miles (8 km) long and about 1 mile (1.5 km) wide, but these numbers are a bit different depending on the source. The name Kizhi comes from the Karelian word “Kizharsuari,” which means “island of games.” In the remote past, it was the site of pagan practices.

The first Christian settlement of Kizhi was in the 16th century. It became a major religious center. Today, it is an open–air museum of Russian wooden houses and churches, some which were originally on Kizhi, but also buildings from other villages.

Photo: A Map of Kizhi

Kizhi

The three structures that you see when you come into Kizhi are, from left, the Transfiguration Church, built 1714, the Bell Tower, built 1874, and the Church of the Intercession, built 1694.

The Transfiguration Church

This church was built in 1714 in commemoration of Russia rebuffing the attacks of the Swedes. Legend has it that it was built by one man using only one tool––an axe––and no nails. After completing the last cupola––the church has 22 of them, he threw his axe into the lake and declared that “there has never been or wouldn’t be such a thing” built again. You can’t visit inside the church because it is now leaning.

We were strongly warned to stay on the pathway around the complex as there were poisonous snakes just waiting for us to take a step into the grass.

For more photos of Kizhi, go to the slide show:

Kizhi

or to Slide Shows, Eastern Europe, Russia, Kizhi

Bells of the Chapel of the Archangel Michael–Movie

The bells of the Chapel of the Archangel Michael were ringing as we were walking toward it. I have put these bells on a movie, which I took while walking so it is a bit jumpy.

Ukrainian Cuisine Day

Our waitresses dressed up in Ukrainian costumes for dinner. Most of us had “pork baked with tomatoes and cheese, potato pudding with green onion and eggs, fried zucchini.” I don’t know if this is an Ukrainian dish. It wasn’t great but all the dishes we had were creative but the main problem was the quality of most of the meat––a poor quality that you often are served in hotels when the dinner was part of the tour price.

Birthday Dinner

It was also Birthday Dinner Night on the Ukrainian Cuisine Day. All the people who were celebrating their birthdays during the cruise were given individual birthday cakes. This is my tablemate Joyce.

Birthday Cake

The five of us at our table could not finish the cake by ourselves, though we tried, so Joyce shared it with other tables who didn’t have anyone having birthdays during the cruise.