Zaporozhye

Yesterday was spent sailing down the river. I  had no idea just how large the Dnieper river is.  There were times I could barely see the banks of the river.  It seemed as if I was on a like as opposed to a river.  The day was raining and overcast which made it a great day for doing nothing.  I read, took a tour of the ship’s galley and got some extra sleep in.

Zaporozhe is a strange place, one long city concentrated along one long street named Prospect of Lenin and along it is a huge statue of him overlooking the hydro-electric dam that was completed in 1932.  Eight water turbines and five generators were designed and manufactured in the United States by General Electric.  The other three generators were made at the Leningrad factory.  The General Electric turbines are still in use today.  This made Zaporozhe a strategic for Hitler to capture during WWII.  There is a definite soviet feel to this place.

During the tour my ears perked up when they started talking about the Mennonites. I remember the Amish and Mennonites while growing up back east.   Catherine the Great invited the Mennonites from Prussia to settle the area.  Today, there aren’t any Mennonites as they left or were deported after the Russian Revolution.

We spent a great deal of time today learning about the Cossacks.  We went to a museum and saw a show where the locals demonstrated the Cossacks fighting skills and horsemanship.  I am not sure I have a clear picture of what role they played throughout history and they almost seem like the pirates of the land – independent, drinkers, hoodlums and hired fighters.  They basically were an army for hire until Catherine the Great wiped them out.  She understood that they could be a problem and serious threat.  Zaporozhe was the home of the Cossack or Cossack Camp.

For lunch, I had fried Cheese.  Does it get any better than that?

At dinner we had traditional Ukrainian food.  Ukrainian red borscht and Chicken
Kiev with a twice baked potato.

Before dinner, I was invited to a reception for the “Viking River Cruise Explorer” which I am a part of as having taken more than one Viking River Cruise.  I have been having fun learning about Ukrainian Vodka and instead of Champagne, we toasted with Vodka.  The event was hosted in the Panaroma bar which is my favorite of the two bars on the ship for two reasons, the sky bar is another 2 flights of stairs I have to take in addition the the two from my room, the other is that there isn’t live music.  I have nothing against live music except when the band is one person on a synthesizer.

I really got a kick out the two bartenders in the Panorama bar.  Both are knockout women, and one is named Irina and the other is named Irina  (and pronounced EEEREEENA).  Need anything, just call out “Irinia”.  Ironically, during the reception, they brought in a third person to help.  You would think of all the people on board the odds would be she would be called Natasha, Olga, Svetlana or Tatiana but no, it was …… Irina.

So far in my Vodka Studies, I have studied:

•  Nemiroff Original
• Nemiroff Honey and Red Pepper
• Chortitsa Silver (A good Vodka to start with, later on, this is difficult to ask for with a straight face)
• Nemiroff with Black Currant
• Nemiroff Lex
• Hetman