Petropavlosk, June 22
Petropavlosk was foggy, cold and drizzly when we arrived. Apparently, this is normal weather for them. I went on the morning tour around the city, which stopped at the local market, the church and the museum. The first stop was the church, which was small but ornate. There was a woman there at the “gift shop” selling candles and Russian Orthodox paraphernalia. One of the items I found most peculiar were what appeared to be trading cards of different saints and other important people to the Russian Orthodox religion. They were all stacked up in different piles. One of the passengers was interested in purchasing one of the packs, but did not have any rubles, so she asked me to help. Well, I wasn’t sure that I could be of much help because I also didn’t have any rubles, nor do I speak Russian. So we took the stack of cards to the woman along with a few dollars. She shook her head no and eventually after trying to communicate, she took two cards out of the stack and gave one to me and the other to the passenger as a gift. She would not take the dollars for it. The reason I tell this story is because, after the entire interaction, with no words really exchanged, she said to us “muchas gracias”. Very funny.
Russian Orthodox church in Petropavlosk
Photo credit: Mason Florence
The museum stop was nice, but it was the market that I really enjoyed. The majority of the market was all smoked fish! Tons and tons and tons of it in long rows. Mostly smoked salmon. I was overwhelmed with how much there was and pretty much froze up about buying any. None was shrink wrapped, so I would have had to eat it on the ship, which was no problem. The problem was deciding how much to buy and from which vendor and trying to figure out what kind of salmon it was, or other kind of fish. Well, those of you that know me well, know that in situations like this, I can simply just not make a decision, especially under a time constraint. We only had about 15 minutes at the market. But I should get a chance to go back, hopefully. Anyway, it was just great fun to look at it all. The prices were great too about $12 a kilo.
Smoked salmon at the local market in Petropavlosk
Also at the market there were a lot of fresh vegetables and dried fruits and nuts. The vegetables and fruit were the most wonderful colors and I was surprised with all the fresh herbs and veggies. The tomatoes are so red and wonderful and the herbs green and thick. I wasn't expecting to see that in an area that is mostly foggy and cold.
In the afternoon, I worked on the final slide show. Kara had stayed behind in the morning to work on it, so it just needed some final touches. We did end up working late into the evening burning the CD's and DVD's for the passengers because we did not finish the trip log until after dinner. It was fun though doing it all as we were all laughing and drinking to make the time pass faster. Some of the staff left around 10pm and went to the local Petropavlosk casino. I heard later that they had a great time and even ended up at the bowling alley. Sounds fun, but I was too tired to join in on the festivities.
Russian Orthodox church in Petropavlosk
Photo credit: Mason Florence
The museum stop was nice, but it was the market that I really enjoyed. The majority of the market was all smoked fish! Tons and tons and tons of it in long rows. Mostly smoked salmon. I was overwhelmed with how much there was and pretty much froze up about buying any. None was shrink wrapped, so I would have had to eat it on the ship, which was no problem. The problem was deciding how much to buy and from which vendor and trying to figure out what kind of salmon it was, or other kind of fish. Well, those of you that know me well, know that in situations like this, I can simply just not make a decision, especially under a time constraint. We only had about 15 minutes at the market. But I should get a chance to go back, hopefully. Anyway, it was just great fun to look at it all. The prices were great too about $12 a kilo.
Smoked salmon at the local market in Petropavlosk
Also at the market there were a lot of fresh vegetables and dried fruits and nuts. The vegetables and fruit were the most wonderful colors and I was surprised with all the fresh herbs and veggies. The tomatoes are so red and wonderful and the herbs green and thick. I wasn't expecting to see that in an area that is mostly foggy and cold.
In the afternoon, I worked on the final slide show. Kara had stayed behind in the morning to work on it, so it just needed some final touches. We did end up working late into the evening burning the CD's and DVD's for the passengers because we did not finish the trip log until after dinner. It was fun though doing it all as we were all laughing and drinking to make the time pass faster. Some of the staff left around 10pm and went to the local Petropavlosk casino. I heard later that they had a great time and even ended up at the bowling alley. Sounds fun, but I was too tired to join in on the festivities.
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