Shopping at Izmaylovo, Arbat Street and nigt cruise down the Moscow River

Izmaylovo Market is an open air Russian souvenir market that is much more budget friendly than other places in Moscow. It is an hour metro ride to get there and such fun to bargain and see all of the choices.  BUT, we've been warned that the quality may not be what is presented, such as a "wolf fur" hat may only be a rabbit had instead, which we here is quite smelly when it gets wet.  

Arbat Street is the most touristic street in Moscow where you can find all of the standard tourist stuff including some nice souvenir shops.  They are of better quality than Izmaylovo but 4 times pricier also.  I'm in search of the perfect Father Frost, but he's not made himself known to me yet.  However, it's a lovely place to walk, window shop, eat an an American eatery, buy an ice cream cone that doesn't melt (yikes) and hear some English.

We lucked out and took a cruise down the Moscow River on the LAST pleasant-weathered evening of the season.  It was truly magical!  We took an hour metro down to Gorky Park, near Red Square, boarded the Radisson boat and enjoyed a 1 1/2 hour cruise down the river.  The buildings are beautifully lit at night as are the many, many bridges.  I am pleasantly surprised at how safe we feel, even walking around at night.  The metro station is much cleaner than anyone I have ever seen.  There is no trash, graffiti or "interesting" characters that one often sees on the Metro in NYC.  However, no one talks on the metro or even makes eye contact.  But if a woman or an older person gets on the train, men give up their seats for them.

Mission Presidents, their wives and the Area Presidency at the St. Peterburg's seminar in Sept. 2016.

"Church on the Spilled Blood" in St. Petersburg

The most beautiful cathedral top in all of St. Petersburg (in my opinion) is the "Church ON the Spilled Blood."  It as built on the exact spot where Emperor Alexander II was assassinated in 1881.  It has 5 beautiful and brightly colored domes and the interior is completely covered with brightly colored mosaics that cover the 4 Gospels.  There are no paintings, ONLY mosaics that are master pieces.

This is the exact spot where Emperor Alexander II was assassinated in 1881.

The Summer Gardens St. Petersburg, Russia

We had a chance to visit the Summer Gardens, which is where the dedicatory Prayer for preaching the gospel in Russia took place.  Our guide shared with us that at the turn of the century, Elder Lyman first dedicated it and then in 1991 Elder Russell Nelson rededicated it at this exact spot.  These are the 14 mission presidents and Area Presidency in the Europe East Area.  

Martino's, Porter's and Kacher's in Summer Gardens.

Just a comparison in the height difference in Jim and Elder Porter.

There was such a special and peaceful feeling there.  (I just wish the statues in that sacred place had more clothing on.

Mission President's Seminar in St. Petersburg

We flew from Moscow to St. Petersburg to hold the Fall Mission President's Seminar, staying at the Renaissance hotel next to St. Isaac's Cathedral, which is the largest Russian Orthodox cathedral in the city.  It took 40 years to build and we were told that during WW II, the dome was painted gray to avoid attracting attention from enemy war craft.  We climbed the 300 steps to the dome top for a breath taking view of the city.  

From the top of the dome, with rain clouds rolling in.  There are approximately 20 days of sunshine annually in St. Petersburg.

The artwork inside of St. Isaac's was beautiful with LOTS of gold and many mosaics.  For the artwork to be accepted by the Russian government, a number of biblical paintings and mosaics included Russian influence, such as a Russian patriarch blessing the Christ-child. 

The Winter Palace, or Hermitage Museum, was overwhelming in size.  It was founded in 1764 by Catherine the Great and now houses over three million pieces of art, including the largest collection of paintings in the world.  It occupies six historic buildings along Palace Embankment.  We did not have time to tour it this time but hope to when we return to St. Petersburg in December for a mission tour.

The Cathedral of Kazan is a Russian Orthodox church located on the famous and beautiful street of Nevsky Prospekt in St. Petersburg.  It was modeled after St. Peter's Basilica in Rome but is much smaller.  We arrived in time to witness a Russian Orthodox mass, which was much like a Catholic mass.  Again, it was VERY ornate with much gold, large columns, saint and icons.  

The Neva river that flows through downtown St. Petersburg is a beautiful sight at night and offers cruises down the river 

After a full day of meetings, we took a hydrofoil boat down the river to Peterhof Palace, which is sometimes referred to as the "Russian Versailles."  There are 64 fountains that operate without the use of pumps but with elevation difference instead.   

Hydrofoil ride

Church on the estate so they didn't have to leave the property to go to church.

Beautiful gardens!

Another building on the Peterhof grounds.

Vladivostok Mission tour, Irkutz meetings and Lake Bikal visit

We flew overnight from Moscow to Irkutz, arriving at 7:00 a.m. and went straight to this hotel for a quick nap and to wait for Pres. and Sister Perkinson to arrive from Vladivostok where the mission home is.

A zone conference was held in the Irkutz church building.
Irkutz is one of the largest cities in Siberia with extremely cold and frigid temperatures in the winter.
In the early 19th century, many Russian artists, officers and nobles were sent into exile in Siberia for their part in the Decembrist revolt against Tsar Nicholas I.  Irkutz became the major center of intellectual and social life for those exiles, and much of the city's cultural heritage comes from them; many of the wooden houses, adorned with ornate, hand-carved decorations survive today, in stark contrast with the standard Soviet apartment blocks that surround them.

We were gifted Fox fur Siberian winter hats at Zone Conference.

There is a lovely walkway through town where we had lunch and stretched our legs after our, long, overnight flight.

Jim and I spoke at an evening member fireside with the help of a RM translator.

Famous Lake Bikal is only 45 miles from Irkutz so a quick visit was a must.
The Lake houses 20% of the earth's fresh water, more than all of the Great Lakes combined, is the deepest lake in the world (over 5,000 ft), the oldest lake in the world and one of the clearest.  Of course, it freezes 80 inches deep in the winter for dog sleds to cross and where ice fishing is popular. 

President and Sister Perkinson 

Jim purchased smoked Lake Bikal fish for us sample.

Zone Conference held in Irkutz.

Jim and President Perkinson from Mesa, Arizona.

A cute Primary activity that was held in Vladivostok.

Cute primary children making animal and floral shapes from fresh fruit after a lesson on the "Word of Wisdom" and feeding our bodies healthy foods.

We took another overnight flight from Irkutz to Vladivostok.  Upon landing in Vlad at 5:30 a.m., we took an hour to see a bit of the bay and around the Sea of Japan while there was no traffic.  It is a 7 hour time difference from Moscow and 13 hour time difference from Texas.  This is a beautiful new bridge that connects Vlad to Moscow Island and houses the Russian Pacific Fleet.  It was interesting to see Russian submarines in the bay.  The bay, of course, freezes over in the winter where ice crushers go through each morning to break up the ice.
Wikipedia says that Vladivostok is a major Pacific port city in Russia overlooking Golden Horn Bay and borders with China and North Korea.  It's known as a terminus of the Trans-Siberian Railway, which links the city to Moscow.  

Sea of Japan that houses the Russian Naval Fleet.

Another lovely church in downtown Vladivostok.

Zone Conference held in a rented building in Vlad

Trans-Siberian Railway station that connects Moscow to Vladivostok

A new district was created in Vlad on Sunday morning with President Perkinson standing behind the new District President along with us, our translator and the Area Seventy.  We had lunch at the lovely mission home after conference.