Uglich

Church of the Spilled Blood

We're visiting the town of Uglich, a city of 24000 founded in the 10th century on the Volga. Here is our second Church of the Spilled Blood, where the 7 year old son of Ivan, the terrible was murdered, which eventually led to the end of the Rurikid dynasty, since no heirs survived. The murder is depicted as murals in this tiny church. Also in this former Kremlin (fortress) is the Church of the Transfiguration, a 15th century palace and a museum where we heard the Kobyet vocal group.

In the evening, we had the Captain's farewell dinner, entertainment by the crew and our singing of the Russian song, Kirtinke. The highlight was the crews version of the Apollo fountain - 4 waitresses in togas with water pitchers and a male cook in the center. We were waiting for them to pour the water on him, but instead they slowly took a drink from the pitchers, and then proceeded to spray it from their mouths on him. The evening ended with champagne and fireworks on the Sun deck. Who would believe we would celebrate the 4th of July on an American ship in the middle of Russia. Yes, the world has changed.

Crew's version of the Apollo Fountain