[Magdalen] Back from the Iron Curtain

[James Oppenheimer]

My beloved spouse has decided that we need to travel now while we still
can.  If this year is an index, we are going to be doing a lot of it.

We were in Scotland a while ago, and now are just came back from Russia.

We landed at Sanktpeterburg (Saint Petersburg), toured there for a few days
and then took a cruise from there to Moscow.

We must have visited a dozen palaces, all of which had absolutely stunning
interiors. We saw the interment location of the Russian Emperors, and
several monasteries and one town, Kizhi, which is sort of the equivalent of
Sturbridge Village, in that they have brought buildings from various
locations to this spot for preservation. People there continue to work at
the old trades: blacksmithing, lace-making, weaving rugs and various cloth,
etc.

We spent most of our time on a river cruise liner, the Volga Dream. The
crew took excellent care of us.  I had a lot of anxiety about the trip, but
none of my concerns turned out to be factors.

Talking with our guides has given me a lot to think about. I was only dimly
aware of how star-crossed the history of Russia has been.

Each time the Volga Dream left a port, the sound system would play a
wonderful little waltz, which just seemed perfect as a farewell tune, and
here we go!

Turns out the melody is by a very well-loved composer, Georgy Sviridov, a
student of Shostakovich.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXjCrUUtpi4

I had never heard of Sviridov prior to this, and I'll be listening to a lot
of his stuff in the future.  He wrote in practically every genre.




James W. Oppenheimer
*“If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better
for people coming behind you, and you don’t do it, you're wasting your time
on this Earth.”  -- *Roberto Clemente