Day 7: Petrozarodsk and the overnight train to Moscow

After a delicious breakfast we packed our bags and left them in the luggage room at the hotel. We were then taken on a tour of Petrozarodsk which didn't take long. The name of the town means 'Peter's factory'.  The factory  refers to a munitions factory founded here by Peter the Great in 1703. This statue of him is pointing to the spot where Petrozavodsk would be founded.

Lenin Square with the theatre on one side of it. Although a small town there are three theatres here as well as two important museums.

Lenin looking towards the eternal flame and war memorial

Examples of some of the engineering work that was carried out at the munitions factory.

 We  were also given a tour of the National Museum of Karelia which traces local history through archeology and natural history displays. I would have been happier walking around without a guide as our guide had to translate everything when, in fact, all the displays had an English description. We then returned to the hotel for lunch before going off to visit  Kivach waterfall and nature reserve.

It took about an hour and a half to get to the nature reserve and of course we couldn't see any wildlife only carved animals that used to live there! Mosquitoes were a real pain. Although I had covered myself in insect repellent they were determined little b...... and managed to find a couple of spots that I had missed with the repellent!

After viewing the Kivach waterfall, I think we were all pleased to be going back to the hotel. I felt today was a bit of a fill in and would have much preferred a free day. There are enough places to explore in Petrozarodsk including the museum, fine art gallery and walks around the lake as well as trying out my non existent Russian.This evening we were catching an overnight train to Moscow. Once back at the hotel  G and I walked into town to visit the supermarket and collect a few treats for the train. We decided to pop into a local restaurant for a quick meal and drink. Very few people speak English so ordering things relies a lot on sign language and pointing. I ordered an alcohol free mojito. The waiter then wrote 18+ ? on a piece of paper. What a hoot! Over 50 years too late to be asking me that. I now had a dilemma as it was obviously not going to be alcohol free but there was no way I could make him understand I didn't want alcohol. So salad and mojito it was.
We returned to the hotel to collect our cases and wait for the minibus to take us to the station. By now it was raining. In fact it was absolutely pouring down. Our minibus was late and we were then told that it couldn't get to the hotel because  roads were closed. That meant we had to walk for 10-15 mins with our cases in the downpour to get to the bus. Everyone rallied round and the young men in the group kindly helped some of the less able with their luggage. We were all soaked to the skin by the time we found our transport. The route to the station was also closed so the driver had to go round the houses to get there and we doubted we would get there in time for the Moscow train. With just minutes to spare we arrived on the platform. As soon as we were on board the train left the station. Although a stressful hour, everyone was in good humour and we all had a laugh about the situation when we met up in the restaurant/bar carriage  later in the evening.

It was four to each compartment. The top two beds had already been made and we just had to pull down the bottom two. To say it was snug was an understatement.