On the boat between St Petersburg and Moscow

We were well fed on the boat.  We had breakfast, lunch and dinner there.  That was one of the things that made the trip value for money.  Most other holidays on land in Russia were bed and breakfast only in a hotel.  Also you got to see Peter and Moscow only and none of the out of the way places we visited. Breakfast was a buffet which included toast, fruit, boiled eggs and porridge and pancakes(bliny).  One strange item on offer at breakfast was brussel sprouts!! Lunch and dinner were very similar meals but always different.  The four course meal began with a salad.  The Russian word for salad is salat and this is also the word for lettuce, but lettuce was rarely included in the course. After this came a soup.  We much preferred the thick soups.  The thin soups were like our chicken noodle soup. There seemed to be a certain oiliness about the courses and we did get upset stomachs at one point.  I hasten to add that these were not due to bacteria but just to not being used to the oils used.  The third course was usually meat such as , beef,chicken, pork and duck with potato of some kind and one other vegetable.  The sweet was things like sponge pudding with jam, or a chocolate eclair.  I don't think we ever had a repeat of a course. As the time progressed I felt the meals were improving more and more.  This was simply due to becoming used to the food.  We had beetroot occasionally and cabbage soup once.  We had a Russian night where we did our best to dress up Russian style and that night we were given vodka and caviar.  My friend and I preferred the vodka! Another night we had to dress up as pirates and we Brits went into dinner singing "What shall we do with the drunken sailor?" My family at home would have cringed to think of doing this but I have always loved a bit of theatre.