Author: Julie

MS Leo Tolstoy river Cruise, Russia – July 2014

After 5 days we boarded our ship, the Leo Tolstoy!  This Riverboat was originally designed for the Soviet Leadership, but after the fall of communism, was privatized and owned as part of a fleet by Vodohad Company, although this particular boat was recently retrofitted and modernized and was being leased to Vantage.  The ship was very comfortable with reasonable cabins and plenty of common space, including the Restaurant, a Library, Theater/Meeting Room, Lounge with Bar, and even an indoor Swimming Pool with Bar.  Meals were excellent and the ship was clean and friendly.

 

We began our 7-day trip up a series of rivers, canals and lakes, including the River Svyr, Lake Ladoga and to the craft village of Mandrogi.  We then proceeded through Lake Onega to Kizhi Island which has preserved the historic wooden structures from the area that were constructed 100-200 years ago.  We eventually entered the Volga River to finish our journey to Moscow, but not before visiting the towns of Goritsy, Yaroslavl, Roston and Uglich.  These towns allowed to to see Russian life outside of the city, and gave us a chance to visit some historic sites, (Church of Elijah the Prophet, Church of St. Nicholas the Miracle-Worker, Yaraslovl Governor’s Mansion, St. Jacob Monasery), as well as visit local school children, local families, and even have tea with a local school teacher.

 

 

 

 

 

The ship’s cruise ended when we arrived at the port terminal outside of Moscow.  There, we transferred to the Grand Marriott Hotel on Tverskaya street.

St. Petersburg, Russia –  July 2013

With only 38 days’ notice, we decided to take advantage of an excellent offer from Vantage to visit Russia, a place that has long been our list to explore.  This trip started with flights from the USA to Frankfurt, Germany, and on to St. Petersburg for 5 days in the city and surrounding area.  We stayed at the St. Petersburg Radisson, which was excellently located on Nevsky Prospect in the heart of the city.  Our exploration of the city started with tours of Peter and Paul Fortress where many of the Romanov Family are interred, and where Peter The Great first founded the city in 1703 in response to Finland’s expansionistic hopes.  When the Bolsheviks took over the country in 1917, the city was renamed first Petrograd, and then Leningrad, but its original name was returned at the end of the 20^th Century.  We went to the Palace Square and toured the gilded halls, and visited the Church on the Spilled Blood, built on exactly where Tsar Alexander II was murdered by extremist for attempting to abolish serfdom.  Our evening concluded with a ballet presentation of Swan Lake.

 

 

 

The next days were spent with city and other nearby excursions, and personal exploration of the city by walking.  Key highlights included touring the Hermitage (museum) where fantastic collections began by Catherine The Great include art and historical mementos from the ruling families from over 3 centuries.  We also toured the city via riverboat, as the city might be considered very similar to Amsterdam or Venice as it is situated on a series of islands divided by canals and waterways.  We took in evening shows that included heritage and folk performances and dancing.

 

 

 

 

 

We also took excursions out of the city to Catherine’s Palace in Pushkin and toured its halls and extensive gardens, and to Peterhof Grand Palace and Gardens on the shores of the Baltic Sea.  Both were magnificently restored from the devastation of World War II, and are now all available as National Heritage Museums.

 

Grand Canyon Rafting      June 2014

We met in the Desert Rose Lobby at 5:00am to begin our journey to the Canyons shores.  It started with a bus trip to the local airport and a flight (two planes) back to Lee’s Ferry where we picked up supplies (beer and wine), loaded our gear onto the rafts and were introduced to our guides.  Our group (now at 14 people plus our two guides) took one raft, and we were teamed-up with a second raft to travel the week together, for safety purposes.

It soon became obvious that the trip was going to be characterized by “hot” weather (90 – 100 deg. F) and cold water (47 at the beginning to 53 at the end – deg. F)!  Our first half-day on the water was minor rapids (Level 1’s) and “riffles”, and we all began to get comfortable with riding the raft and camping on shore.  The next morning we rode our first real rapids (Levels 5-6) and everyone did well and was having a great time, alternating freezing (while wet) and roasting (while dry).

 

  

 

Our guides were R.D. and Grace, experienced Canyon Runners with a wide range of skills, training and college education.  The provided us with safe maneuvering down the river, detailed information on the history and geology of the Canyon, gourmet meals, and anything else that we could possibly need.  In short – they were amazing. Days were typically breakfast early and rafting all day, with shore stops for lunch and side-excursions.  The side excursions were sometimes strenuous, but always exciting, and included exploring old caves and mines, hiking to ancient civilization’s granaries, swimming in side canyon’s rivers, streams and waterfalls, and a ½ day on the Little Colorado River.  Evenings we put ashore, set up cots and sleeping bags for a comfortable night’s sleep and enjoyed typically amazing meals provided by our guides.

The Little Colorado is much warmer than the Colorado, and carries dissolved minerals that make it a turquoise blue.  We hiked upstream to an area where we could swim and “slide” down the natural “sluice” created by the river – truly an amazing day.

   

The last couple of days of the week long trip saw the most adventurous of the rapids (Level 10’s).  They shook and threw people around, but by this time, everyone was an old-hand at riding what the River could throw at them.  The trip ended with a helicopter ride out of the Canyon (5-at-a-time) to the Bar-10 Ranch for a shower, lunch, and an air flight back to Las Vegas.

   

That night while cruising down the Vegas Strip, the excitement around us there seemed no match for the past 10 days that we had all experienced.  Adventures with friends are always so much better, and this one delivered a highlight that rivals any of our others.

Grand Canyon North Rim      June 2014

After the day at Bryce Canyon and another well-deserved night of rest, we set off south to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.  Most visitors of the Grand Canyon approach it for viewing from the South Rim, but the North Rim is 1000-2000 ft. higher with spectacular views of the Southern Rim and Canyon Vistas.  We spent the day exploring different viewpoints, visiting the Canyon Lodge and making short day hikes into the edges of the Canyon.  At key viewpoints, we could see the mighty Colorado River at the bottom of the Canyon, over 1 mile below us, where we would soon be floating our way along our next 185 mile-long adventure.

The next day, we traversed our way to the bridge crossing over the Grand Canyon near Lee’s Ferry, the only river crossing for vehicles until one would reach Hoover Dam.  From the bridge, we watched the majestic Condors that nested there among the Canyons steep walls.  But then, it was time to return west to Las Vegas, and prepare for our Rafting Adventure

 

Bryce Canyons National Park        June 2014

After a great day in Zion Park, we proceeded to Bryce Canyon National Park.  Bryce is characterized by geologic formations referred to as “Hoodoos” – a remnant of ancient beliefs that the vertical rock formations were fossilized ancient people that some form of “voodoo” cast to stone.  The softer rocks are simply “capped” by harder rocks, and the eons of water and wind erosion has made for an unbelievably beautiful set of canyons, which we explored with hikes along trails to the extent that we had the time.  Standing in the shadows of the canyon walls and watching the setting sun’s changing light of the formations provided an ever-changing romantic glow of oranges, reds and yellows.

   

Zion National Park June 2014

Our Canyon Adventures began with a flight to Las Vegas and an overnight stay at the Desert Rose Hotel just off the “strip”.  There we met up with friends and family from across the country and from across the globe.  The entire excursion was planned and organized by our friend Cliff Crowe, who applied his expert geologic training to set us on a 2 week exploratory journey.

Our next morning, we (18 of us) boarded 3 SUVs and headed to our first park excursion – Zion National Park in Utah.  After arriving in Springdale and checking into our motel for that night, we ventured into Zion National Park where we hiked through ankle-to-knee-deep water upstream in “The Narrows” to a point where spectacular water carvings hollowed out the local geology.  We could have pursued even narrower upstream locations, but we retraced our steps to explore other parts of the park.

    

While most went to Emerald Pools, 5 of us decided to attempt to climb to “Angel Point”, even though we barely had 2 hours of daylight left.  The ascent was ~2000 ft. through mostly a well maintained trail, although composed of steep switchbacks.  However, the last ½ mile was scrambling over ancient dunes, climbing rock faces with the help of rail-chains, and tightrope-walking narrow ledges.  The views from the top were indeed spectacular and worth the effort.  With now time to waste, we made it down in just under 2 hours, just before darkness settled, and in time to catch the last park bus and make dinner.  It was an exciting but tiring day.

     

September 10, 2012

 

The Rhine-Main-Danube Canal begins near Bamberg. With the completion of the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal in 1992, uninterrupted water transport was again made possible between the North Sea and the Black Sea.

Walking tour again! Bamberg prides itself with being on seven hills, as it symbolizes similarity to Rome. One of the hills, Cathedral Hill, houses the tombs of emperor Henry II and Pope Clement II. We strolled through town and saw the Old Town Hall which is built on an island in the middle of the Regnitz River accessible by 2 bridges.

We visited the Neue Residence or New Palace where the bishops after the 17^th century have lived.  We ended the afternoon in the magnificent Rose Garden having wine and beer, Rauchbier (a smokey, bacon tasting beer).  The garden provided excellent views of the city.

 

Late this evening we leave the Rhine and traverse the boat to the Main Danube canal…..these canals are many and varied.  Some are over a hundred years Old and some are relatively new.  Some were created to move goods because it was cheaper than driving miles yet time has found that these rivers and canals are used regularly by tourist more that for moving goods. Most of the route there are bike paths and roads on the side of the canal. Some canals so narrow we barely fit and others hold multiple boats docked side busy side. You can rise up or down 3 feet or 80 feet depending on where you are in the canal system.

 

September 9, 2012

We really enjoyed the long sail morning….the scenery on the river is just majestic and the sailing so peaceful. We will have at journeys end traversed a series of 68 locks and canals which depending on other river  traffic means that one gets there when the river allows.  Here in Würzberg, the Würzberg Residence dominates the hillside and offers wine tastings.

 

However, we opt for a short bus ride to the medieval walled city of Rothenburg  or the “Red Fortress above the Tauber”. Here we walked and shopped the entire city on the ground and in the air by climbing to the top of the city walls and taking the catwalk around.  The city which has around 3000 residents was hosting one of their medieval festivals so everyone was dressed in costume. While we were each given 15 Euros for lunch we found a local place and had the most delicious meal for 5 Euros each!  Rothenburg has a wonderful Christmas Museum and shop where one could spend hours!

 

 

September 7, 2012

Here we took a short bus ride from Frankfurt to Heidelberg to visit the 15th century Heidelberg castle, an imposing Gothic Renaissance ruin of red stone. It is a massive castle. Heidelberg also houses the oldest college in Germany, Heidelberg University. While at the castle we rode the first of many funiculars down the side of the mountain into the cobblestone pedestrian down town.  We ate at a local restaurant having the traditional pork and sauerkraut meal at Hotel Georg zum Ritter dating back to 1592 before returning to Frankfurt.

 

 

 

 

Then after dinner since we were having a late sail, we strolled into Frankfurt and partook of the local scenery and beer.

 

 

September8, 2012

Wertheim is a small walk able city of old cobblestone streets; a step back in time. We sailed all morning admiring the river scenery and then had a glassblower jump abroad at one of the canals.  He treated us to a glass blowing demonstration and invited us to see his wares when we arrived later in the day in the town. But before strolling the town we hiked up to the ruins of Burg Wertheim (castle) and the major landmark of the area.  Wertheim has a medieval town center with half-timbered houses, small streets and lots of little outdoor cafes.  A great place to drink a cold beer after hiking up to the Burg.