KAMCHATKA LAND OF MYSTERY AND MISTS - Page 11

By now, I had grown tired of lectures, especially lectures needing translating, so I skipped the tour of the Mutnovsky Geothermal Station. The other available activities were going to the spa and taking nature walks. Or perhaps I should write "nature climbs". The hotel was on top of a hillock with small, steep ravines around it, all with steam vents and hot springs. Plants grew quite close to the springs, even the boiling ones. {Pic. #36}

Next morning we returned to Petropavlovsk, stopping along the way for more investigation of the tundra flora. This is when Katie and I managed the impossible. First, Katie found a flowering plant that Victor had never seen before: a few minutes later I found another! He would not even guess the family Katie's belonged in. He thought he knew which family mine was in, but could not be more specific. It was the only time Victor could not tell us the Latin, Russian and English names of every plant we saw.

The last "big" official activity of the tour was the cruise through Avachinskaya Bay which had been postponed the previous week. {Pic. #37 & 38} I did not find it as interesting as I had thought it would be. The weather was still overcast, hazy and a bit on the chilly side. When we circled the sea bird rookery islands, the launch stayed so far offshore that we really could not see much. Nor was it possible to get decent pictures of the seals on we saw one island. [And I'm not happy if I can't get good pictures of everything I see.] I did see my first northern sea birds, although there were not as many species as expected. Among the birds spotted were horned puffins, 2-3 gulls, pelagic cormorants, auks, ducks, etc. While we were anchored, several people, including one man who had never caught a fish before, pulled in nice [But ugly! Truly, no uglier fish ever swam.] halibut.

Lunch was aboard ship. I happened to go into the lounge while Victor, Marina and a couple of young girls were fixing open face sandwiches from food Marina had brought - cold meats, cured sausages, cheese, bread, tomatoes, cucumbers mostly. Victor asked me how we would prefer the tomatoes cut, slices or wedges, and to show them how to make "American" sandwiches. I did the best I could, but it would have helped if there had been mustard or mayonnaise. Also, Russian bread is not sliced at the bakery. Most Russians cut it thick. I had to show Victor the correct thickness. [Wonder if Marina, etc. went home that night and introduced their families to "American" sandwiches with 2 thin bread slices.]

Our last 2 nights were at the Petropavlovsk Hotel, in the city, not in a suburb as the Flamingo Hotel and the Blue Lagoon were. It was an old Intourist hotel and each floor still had the desk with a woman to keep the room keys and generally keep track of everything happening.

The activities scheduled for the last couple of days were lectures and museums. I elected to miss them. Instead, Thursday morning I walked to a nearby toy store looking for gifts for my grandchildren, Caroline and Samuel. Almost everything turned out to be cheap plastic with "Made in China" on it in English. I did find a couple of stuffed, plush snakes for them. The snakes were "Made in China". So much for Russian toys for the grands.

At noon, Bob and Victor decided that everyone who wished could go into the center of town on the bus to get lunch and wander around. {Pics. #39 & 40} Everyone wished. The bus driver suggested a restaurant, the Red Cub, as a good place to eat so we all said we would go there together. He called ahead to find out if it could serve 17 people at one time. It could and did a wonderful job on almost no advance notice. The driver also suggested that after a while for shopping, anyone who wished meet at the bus to visit a newly built church{Pic. #41 & 42} and then go to a good craft shop.

We all did. The stores really did not have much we wanted. All I found to buy were salt shakers at the department store. Rachel got several, small, brightly painted, lacquer bowls. There was little of interest to see. I did like the church we visited. I'm not sure if there was a service going on behind the icon screen or if a recording was being played. Anyway, the music was lovely. There were icons I liked for sale. I bought 2 diptychs and a triptych. {Pic. #43} I also got some carved reindeer bone jewelry at the craft store.