Mandrogi

Monday, 24 September 2018

After having been bombed and burned into oblivion during World War II, the small village of Mandrogi on the Svir River was resurrected in 1996 by a St. Petersburg businessman as a tourist destination between Kizhi and St. Petersburg. It's authentic in a Disneyland way. There are a hotel, guest houses, restaurants, lots of handicrafts, and a few private residences -- all built as an idealized Russian village. A small zoo is accessible by a short ferry ride (maybe 200 ft) for a fee.

The Svir River connects Lake Onega and Lake Ladoga and the scenery is mostly forest. The trees were just beginning to change to their fall colors.

The decorated gable of a building for craftsmen and their wares.

The Vodka Museum boasts well over 2000 bottles of (what else?) vodka.

Mandrogi affords plenty of opportunities to purchase high-quality Russian souvenirs, handicrafts, and art.

Some of the workshops are in old restored buildings. The doors can be very short!

A private residence. Mandrogi is becoming a week-end getaway for wealthy urbanites. There's even a helipad.

Most of the village is still heavily wooded.

Back on board the ship, we were treated to another afternoon rainbow.

Our afternoon "excursion" was on board. Executive Chef Leonidas gave us a tour of the serving kitchen. (The cooking kitchen, two decks down, is off-limits to passengers for health and sanitation reasons.)

And to finish the day, we had a nice sunset.