Travelling on this morning by ship to Uglich after a change of plans as there was not enough water in the canal to get us to Yaroslavl which should have been the next stop on the journey after Uglich. Instead we are staying overnight in Uglich, and going on a coach trip to Yaroslavl this afternoon. We then see Uglich tomorrow morning before sailing on in the afternoon. Bit complicated but the captain told us this last night before dinner and his word is law on the ship.

After breakfast we went to a talk on the Romanovs and this reminded me of history lessons with lots of names and dates. I do seem to remember that Peter the Great was the beginning of the Romanov dynasty in the 1680s and he was the one who made Saint Petersburg the capital of Russia as it was a port and he wanted to have control of the Navy from his palace. There were lots of strands of the family with girls having no place in the succession but more  than one wife was allowed and then the sons from different mothers became rivals for the throne. The dynasty ended in 1918 with Nicolas 2nd and his family, the last Tzar and his family all being killed with the start of the Russian Revolution.

We had lunch and then travelled by coach to Yaroslavl, through countryside fields and woods, mainly birch and pine trees. As we travelled, our guide told us a long story about a bear, which is the symbol of the city. There were some tiny villages along the road with mainly wooden houses painted in greens, yellows and blues, with beautiful white fretwork surrounding the windows. Some places looked very poor and as we entered the outskirts of Yaroslavl we drove through suburban wooden houses then very scruffy industrial areas with workshops. As we came nearer the middle of the city, we saw very new and glossy car salerooms and garages. Then we came to the older classical buildings with the Russian churches in the centre. We stopped at the governors house, which is now a museum and were met at the door by the “governors daughters” who showed us round the house. There were portraits in the salon and then we went into the ballroom which was beautiful. They entertained us with music on the grand piano with a violin and cello and then danced for and with us. We then looked at the Governors office and they told us about the language of flowers and fans and asked us some riddles. This could have been any 18th century salon in Europe.

We moved on to the church of Elijah the Prophet which was unusual with its frescoes telling the story of Elijah and the shummanite woman. This is very unusual for a Christian church to be dedicated to an Old Testament prophet.There was the usual iconography screen with the doors in the middle that leads to the High Altar, where only the priest goes.

We then walked onto the Assumption Cathedral, built by a local wealthy anonymous donor in 2007-2010. This was built on the site of a cathedral from the 11th Century which was destroyed during the soviet era. It was all brand new inside, but followed the exact same layout of many of the churches we have seen. The walls were still mainly bare although the donor was arranging to have frescoes painted.

We walked into the town and went to the market where they had arranged a tasting session for us of pickles, ham, cheese. We bought some chocolate, mint tea, and dried fruits at the market and then went to look at some of the shops along the Main Street. We then had an hour and a half bus ride back to the boat, the roads were very bumpy on the return journey and we got back for a late dinner.