Westworld Alberta

leave. As with the Moscow Canal, gulag pris- oners were "employed" on the project. Other lectures cover the Hermitage, the Romanovs, the career of president Vladimir Putin and a gripping account of Mikhail Gorbachev's presidency. In the evenings, the mood is lightened by the singing of a sultry mezzo-soprano and the playing of a virtuoso balalaika and accordion player – accordions in Russia being taken as seri- ously as any classical instrument. After Yaroslavl comes Goritsky, with its 14th-century monastery and throng of STEVEN BRYDESEN AMA Travel Specialist | International Cruising All too often, Russia gets a bad rap. But Russia was surprisingly welcoming when I visited earlier this year. I went on a 13-day river cruise from Moscow to St. Petersburg. Before our ship set sail, I spent a couple of days discovering Moscow by metro. This is a more convenient way to get around the city than being stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffi c. First stop: Red Square, a great place to get ori- entated. In one direction, there is the Kremlin, the offi cial home of the country's president. In the other, Kitai-gorod, a street market. The central square is also home to GUM, a four- storey shopping mall. Other Moscow attrac- tions worth checking out are the Tretyakov Gallery, one of the best Russian fi ne art museums, and the Novodevichy Convent. The entire journey along the Moscow Canal and Volga, Svir and Neva rivers is dotted with onion-domed churches and pastel-coloured historical buildings. Don't feel obligated to visit every one. One of my favourites was the Church of St. Dmitry on the Blood in the town of Uglich, where Ivan the Terrible's son, Dmitry, was mysteri- ously killed. Uglich is also a great place to buy inexpensive souvenirs, such as matryoshka, or nesting dolls. Midway through the journey, the ship cruises into the island village of Kizhi, on Lake Onega, the second-largest lake in Europe. There you can visit an open-air museum with historic wood houses, windmills and orthodox churches. Need help planning or booking an interna- tional cruise? Contact Steven at 1-888-989- 8423 or email: WWTravelSpecialist@ama.ab.ca. 26 WESTWORLD >> NOVEMBER 2011

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