Yesterday was a ‘sea-day’ when we don’t have a port to visit and there’s often a bit more arranged for the passengers. Still, we’re happy to avoid craft classes and bingo and have the occasional cup of coffee while we read or play cards. There was a terrific show on in the theatre called Invitation to Dance so we went to that and then came back to the Centrum to listen to the band for an hour or so before going to bed. Centrum is what they call the base of the atrium where they have lots of activities .... and I thought it was brand of vitamins.
The band is called the Dynamic Duo, a man and woman from Jamaica – she sings, he plays keyboard. I suppose we arrived at about 9.15 with lots of others from the show or who were just finishing dinner. It was a Formal Night so many people were dressed up. One Korean woman in a red dress had obviously had a few drinks and wanted to dance and that set the mood for the evening. The band was great and gradually built up the atmosphere until everyone around was relaxed and uninhibited. One of the waiters got a congo line going and the small dancefloor was packed. One elderly woman who walked around with two sticks was on her feet moving to the music and another disabled woman in an electric scooter waved her hands about to the rhythm.
And then, at 11 o’clock we saw two miracles. The woman with the sticks threw them away and danced unaided, and the woman in the electric scooter stood up and danced without support. Ah, the power of music!
Marilyn and I were on the 6th floor looking down on the revelries and we could see people on the different levels dancing in their individuals spaces. All the nationalities were taking part and this was the first time we had seen them mixing in any way. Some of the Korean women were interesting: moving their feet and their arms without any expression on their faces. One woman on our level was clearly not used to dancing and made random shuffles with her feet and moved her arms as if she was doing PE or breast-enhancement exercises. And that’s the magic of the music: people forget their inhibitions and allow themselves to be carried away by the moment.
Today we visited Vladivostock. I was quite prepared to say it was a grey city because the weather is foul and we’re still experiencing fog (6 days in a row now) but there’s a lot of work being done to brighten up the buildings and make a city which will attract tourists. Before we enter any port somebody gives a rundown on the history and what we can expect to find. The expert for Vladivostok was a Canadian professor who scared the life out of us by talking about the Russian paranoia and the KGB and what would happen if we didn’t have the correct paperwork. We had booked on an afternoon tour excursion so we weren’t too worried.
We went off in the morning to get some roubles because the ship is not allowed to carry them. It was easy enough to find an ATM so in went the card and I selected English. The machine clicked to the next screen, which was still in Russian. I tried to guess where the cancel button might be but all I got was my balance (quite a lot of roubles, I’m pleased to say). At least I got my card back so I tried again. Still no English so I pressed what I assumed was the withdrawal, then selected 1000 and the screen asked me something in Russian with two options: one was clearly Da and the other Nyet, so I chose Da. Good choice; I got a 1000 rouble note and a slip telling me that my balance had been reduced by 1000. Just what I hoped would happen. Into a tiny shop to buy a small item so I would have change and we were set for the afternoon.
The excursion was a bit odd. All the tour buses are built in Korea – very comfortable and a bit kitsch in their interior design. Ours had elaborate curtains and doilies on the back of the seats. Russians drive on the RH side of the road and the driver’s seat is placed accordingly, on the left. The odd thing is that most cars are right-hand drive. We didn’t really get an explanation for this but it seems to go back to 1991 when the Soviet Union fell and Russians had access to second-hand Japanese cars for the first time and, of course, these are built with the driver’s seat on the right.
The traffic is horrendous and parking is haphazard to say the least. Road maintenance is non-existent and we were appalled at the dangerous driving. We were taken to see a museum – stuffed birds and snakes in bottles, a Russian Orthodox Church (the priest had a hissy fit and wouldn’t let us in) and a submarine museum. We became aware of a man in an overcoat and carrying a briefcase hanging around us in the park near the submarine. We decided he must have been the KGB (or the man from KAOS) so I surreptitiously took his photograph and he scurried off. The highlight of the excursion was to be a lookout so we could get an overview of the town, but the fog was very thick and it was 100 steps to the top so Marilyn and I gave that a miss. We were also supposed to visit the GUM Department store but ran out of time so that was our excursion.
Apparently, Vladivistok is the base for the Russian Pacific fleet and I was hopeful of seeing some battleships but, as I said, the fog was thick and we couldn’t see very far. In the morning before we got off I noticed a shape in the mist which seemed to be coming towards us and gradually it took the shape of a small warship. As it came closer, we could see the gun turrets on the deck, but then we realized there were no guns in them. The ship was very shabby and derelict so we suspect it was on its way to the scrapyard.
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