Vladivostok, Russia

            On 1 Oct 2013, after again setting our clocks forward one hour the previous night, we awoke to our alarm about 6:30 AM.  About 5 minutes later, the cabin steward knocked on our door; he was returning our passports, which now included a stamp for entry into Russia and which we needed to carry on our persons in order to enter the country.  We were joined for breakfast by a Canadian couple, Sid and Sandra.  Although they are traveling with a Canadian passport, they have lived in Arizona for the last 20 years.  We enjoyed a good conversation with them, mostly about politics and medical care.

After breakfast, we returned to our cabin, prepared for our excursion, and then headed to the Explorers Lounge, our meeting place.  Outside at the bus, our tour guide was a young woman named Natasha, with two assistants, Valeria and Irena.  All were probably still teenagers.  (Sally discussed Valeria’s name with her, as this was also Sally’s mother’s name.)  Vladivostok has only been opened to outsiders since 1992.  Our bus took us to the Orthodox Gymnasium (like a Catholic school, but Orthodox instead of Roman Catholic) that teaches theology and the Slavonic language, as well as providing a standard state education.  This Russian Gymnasium differs from the German Gymnasium in that it includes all grades through grade 11, not just upper grades of children preparing for college; however, like the German Gymnasium, classes are held Monday thru Saturday.  This school has about 165 students, and is located on the site of a previous church facility that was destroyed during the Communist era.  Reconstruction of the church and school began about 2004 and was only recently completed.  After we listened to a small choir of children, some of them greeted us individually, telling us “hello” in English.  (Some were braver than others.  One young boy came up to Jesse and pointed to himself and said a word, apparently his name; and then he pointed to Jesse and said something, obviously asking his name.)  On the bus, we sat across the aisle from a gentleman named Cook from Singapore, who kept us occupied with conversation when the tour guide wasn’t speaking.
 

 

Russian Orthodox Church

           Next we visited The Most Holy Mother of God Catholic Church, which is the only Roman Catholic Church within about 2,500 miles.  The parish priest, who was originally from Benton Harbor, Michigan, gave us a brief history of the church.  The original parishioners were mostly “Polish” Russians.  The Neo-Gothic church was constructed about 1920, but was seized by the Soviet state and converted into Vladivostok’s three-story archive during the communist era.  The church was returned to the Catholic faithful in 1994.  Since then, the church has been undergoing restoration, which is being funded by church organizations from around the world, including Germany and the U.S.  The original marble crucifix that had been rescued from destruction by an art museum is mounted above the altar.  For pews, the cathedral uses seats that they purchased from a movie theater.  Although not traditional, they are very comfortable and actually improve the acoustics.

Next we enjoyed a traditional Russian meal in a local restaurant, which included a salad, borscht soup, beef stroganoff with rice, and a pastry for desert.  On our return trip to the ship, our tour guide gave us a quiz on Russian history, a brief lesson on common Russian phrases, and she and her assistants sang a few Russian songs.
 

As our bus drove through Vladivostok streets, we studied the people who were walking and shopping.  Even though this part of Russia is adjacent to China and very near Japan, the population had the appearance of being almost exclusively from northern Europe (although northern Europe now actually has many minorities).  Probably for this reason, Jesse received more attention than the rest of us. 

The city itself is not very large and, though relatively new (dating from about 1860), the structures seem to be poorly maintained.  In the area near the Gymnasium, we noticed a large, unsightly pipe not far from the street.  We wondered what the pipe carries, oil or what; when asked about it, Natasha answered that it is a water pipe!
 



Back Stroke

After returning to the ship, Jesse had an ice cream sundae to top off the Russian lunch; then we went for a swim and sat in the hot tub.  There, we talked with an Australian couple, mostly about cruising and over-land tours.  After dinner, we returned to our cabin’s balcony to watch the ship “sail-away.”  Although there was no organized festivity ashore, a sizable crowd of onlookers were waving us farewell.  Afterwards, we danced for about 30 minutes before retiring to our cabin.  It was a long day!