MURMANSK, RUSSIA

                                            Our position today:  Murmansk, Russia
Background Info:

        Yes, we are in Russia today.  It too is just above the Arctic Circle, located in the extreme northwest part of Russia 25 miles up Kola Bay, an inlet of the Barents Sea.  It is not far from Russia’s borders with Norway and Finland.  Despite its rapidly declining population of 307,000, it remains the largest city north of the Arctic Circle.  Murmansk was the last city founded in the Russian empire.  In 1915 Russia’s WWI allies needed a port on the ice free north coast to bring in military supplies so a port was built there and a railroad was built from it to cities in the south.  Murmansk was also an important link to the Western world for Russia during WWII.  Arctic convoys of the Allies brought in military equipment and raw materials to the Soviet Union for their war effort against the Germans.

        Today Murmansk remains ice free year round and is an important fishing and shipping destination.  It is also home port to the world’s only fleet of nuclear powered ice breakers.  It’s also linked by railway to St Petersburg and the rest of Russia.  Its subarctic climate features long and cold winters with short mild summers.  High temperatures in July & August can be in mid 50’s with highs rest of the year anywhere from 30’s down into the teens.  Really not that bad for as far north it is!

Today's Adventure:

        Last night before retiring we turned our clocks ahead two hours so we would be on Russian time.  I sure missed those two hours of sleep!  Room service showed up at 8:00 am with Rebecca's breakfast and I headed out to the gym for my hour workout on stationary bike.  It was cloudy and mid 40's when we got up but now a beautiful, sunny day but still chilly.  High temp for this afternoon should approach 70F.  Our tour, "Murmansk Highlights and Russian Pancakes" meets at 11:15 am.  As we got off the ship we had to show Russian immigration officers our passports and touring tickets.  Normally we would have to had a Russian visa in our passports but being on a ship organized tour was way around not having to have a visa.  This will be same procedure when we are in St Peterburg beginning of August.

        Ok, it's now 3:30 and we are back from our tour.  It is a very pleasant 66F outside now and an absolutely beautiful blue sky above.  We have been so very lucky with the weather so far on this cruise.  Except for fog at the North Cape yesterday it has been super weather for this part of the world.  Even the sea has been giving us smooth rides.

        I'll try to give you my impressions of Russia here in Murmansk.  It is what I had imagined it would be like only worse.  For a city that will be celebrating it's 100th year birthday in a couple of years (this is young for an European city), it is in very sad shape.  Buildings and parks all over the city are being renovated.  I did not see any individual homes.  Everyone seems to live in "flats" (what we call apartments) that most own.  Before the breakup of the USSR each President built these flats.  The first ones were two story, wooden structures with no inside plumbing. A few still exist but our guide said the government has promised to replace them, then tear them down.  With each President the flats kept adding more floors to the height of the new ones.  Think they are up to 9 stories now.  Even the new flats are a drab, grey color and quickly show age.  They have 4 months of daylight 24/7 and 8 months of darkness.  She said they have a lighting system to illuminate the downtown during this period.  The winter months are harsh and cold (down to 0 a few days) with lots of snow.  We saw stray dogs (no cats) roaming around everywhere.  The city was built with no prior plan so streets are a mess and traffic is a big problem.  Our guide said the average salary is less than $15,000 per year (converted from rubles).  Glad we had the chance to visit here but once is enough.  At least we had a gorgeous day.

        Tonight we have 7:00 dinner reservations in Prime 7 again.  I need a steak!!  Some clarinet player in theater as tonight's entertainment so will skip that.  There has been a large refueling ship parked next to us and right below our balcony all day.  Fumes in our suite now but they just left.  Guess fuel oil is cheaper here and they may give double green stamps (some of you may be old enough to remember green stamps).  I will have two extra hours of sleep tonight as our clocks will move back.  We are about to sail for our next port which is Hammerfest in Norway again.  Heading out on balcony as should be a lovely sail away.

ONCE AGAIN CLICKING ON PHOTOS ENLARGES THEM BUT WILL HAVE TO RETURN TO NORMAL SIZE TO READ THE CAPTIONS BELOW PHOTOS.

 

    Russian buses not as nice as those in Norway.

                                                               Our tour today

                                                 

                                            TV crew interviewing a police officer

                                                 Most all buildings in disrepair

                                                   Area with the newest flats

                                              Our guide who spoke good English

                                                   The port is very industrial

         Memorial to the soldiers who lost their lives during WWII and fight with Germans.

                    Jane and Charlotte were on a different tour than us but we ran into them here.

                                                        Drab, ugly flats

                                          Stray dogs everywhere but did not see any cats

          Oldest of the flats with wood construction and no indoor plumbing.  Being phased out.

                             The lighthouse is a memorial to sailors who have lost their lives.

                                                       Russian Orthodox Church

                                             Garages are separate from their flats.

                                                              The train station

                                    Hotel where we were served Russian pancakes seen below.

                                                   Their pancakes are like crepes