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  • Day 36

    Mandrogi

    May 19, 2018 in Russia ⋅ ☁️ 7 °C

    On our way to our next destination we crossed the largest lake in Europe - Lake Lagoda. Almost like an inland sea it became quite rough during the night and the boat rocked and rolled a bit (but not enough to make us sick). In the morning we entered the Svir River on our way to Mandrogi, our lunchtime destination. We had a lecture on handicrafts and what to look for if purchasing Matrousska dolls (the Russian nesting dolls), lacquer boxes, Faberge eggs and the various lacework, embroidery and other handiwork. Basically, if it only costs a few hundred rubles (100 rubles = $2 approx.) then it is not the genuine article and probably not even a good copy. After this we had a Russian language lesson. At 33 letters in their alphabet and letters that look like backward N, R,; E on its side; K as a back to back mirror image; plus an assortment of other strange symbols, we soon discovered that Russian would be a very difficult language to learn (especially when a P is pronounced as R and H as N.) Still, it was a bit of fun and we even started learning a Russian song. We will find out what we were singing about next lesson.

    We arrived at Mandrogi, a fishing village that was ruined during WWII. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, a group of Russian investors decided to restore the village as a type of open air museum which demonstrated traditional Russian folk life, arts and crafts (hence this morning's lecture), woodworking and probably the most popular, a vodka museum (the tour included some vodka tasting)

    During a traditional Russian BBQ lunch (chicken shishlak) we were entertained by a Russian folk music group. Now, usually I view traditional music as nice to fill in a bit of time but not really enjoy that much. These guys however were fantastic especially the guy playing a kind of lute (I think) - it was so full of energy and everyone thoroughly enjoyed them.

    I forgot to mention the weather. The morning started quite cold and overcast but by the time we arrived at Mandrogi the sun had come out and it was very pleasant. Our run of nice weather continues.
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