on the sundeck, read novels, and sipped
cappuccinos, we drank homemade
moonshine at a grandma’s house in
Uglich, learned the Russian alphabet by
heart, sipped scrumptious borscht in Red
Square, got hopelessly lost wandering
around Moscow, and visited so many
palaces and castles that, by the end of our
trip, we decided we didn’t need to see
another Romanov home, ever. And, as the
youngest person on the boat by about 40
years, I would do it all over again in a
single heartbeat, even under the watchful
eye of an Elvis impersonator or the
infectious sounds of the chicken dance.
BY KRISTIN WINET ILLUSTRATIONS BY I YING YEH
KRISTIN WINET
She is an award-winning travel writer,
blogger, and photographer. Her work, which
has been featured both online and in print,
covers culture, cuisine, accommodation, and
experiential travel. Check out her website at
i
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home!) and the fact that you’re sharing a
vessel with fewer than 300 other people.
Being part of a small village trying to squeeze
through one set of doors at the same time is,
thankfully, nobody’s nightmare. On river
cruises, you just stroll right out.
So, though I’d never put it on my bucket list,
when my mom and I caught wind that Russia
had jumped aboard the river-cruise trend, we
decided to find out for ourselves what all the
buzz what about. We booked the trip, packed
entirely too many pairs of shoes, and headed
straight for St. Petersburg. Then, after
cramming the entire imperial capital into
three days, we set sail on our fourth evening,
just as the sun grew deep and orange in the
eerie “white nights” sky. That evening,
sipping wine on the upper deck under the sun
and stars, dining on pretty finger-food items,
and having lovely conversations with well-
traveled folks from all over the world, it
occurred to me: there were no sombreros, no
bad jokes, and no men in Hawaiian shirts.
Maybe
this
what cruisingwas all about.
Of course, that was the exact moment
when the previously inconspicuous jazz
singer turned up the speakers, flipped on
the strobe light, put on his best Elvis
impression, and got everyone boogying on
the dance floor. What I soon realized,
thinking back to my line-dancing days in
Savannah, was that I was having such a
blast on this fancy boat because of these
two extremes: museums and castles by
day, crooning lounge singers and bingo
parties by night.
So what did I learn about river cruising?
Well, while some people lounged around
౧ක
ئ
ቃʘࣚٙࠦ६
on
River Cruising
23
enVoyage
