Skip to main content

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.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Constructive criticism

First of all thanks to Fat Prophet for your interest. I see from your blog you are having trouble commenting. To get back to my assessed service. Criticism albeit constructive is harder for some to take than others. I felt a little crushed after my assessed service but then remembered I had recorded it on my dictaphone. I listened to it all through and although my assessors were quite right about me speaking a little quickly and rushing from item to item, I was actually very pleased with the content of my sermon and how I presented it. So I have decided to take heart. I highly recommend other trainees to record your services. You can hear your good points and your bad and there is no argument about it, it is all caught on the recorder.

Section A

I've posted off my work for section A. Now to get on with B. Onward and upward as they say. It does feel good to have completed A, progress is being made.I think my tutor is more nervous than I as to the outcome, but then I am his first student. We are learning from each other.But then that should always be the case. It's an adventure we go on together.The course seems to be suiting me alright but I feel there are a lot of potentially excellent local preachers out there who are put off by the study. Something should be devised to include these good people, we can ill afford to do without them, especially as the numbers of ministers is dropping. What did Wesley do? You don't need a degree, or even A levels to preach. You need a call, and a close relationship with God.

Always wanting something new

Every time I take a few days off from my blog my ratings slump.  Very rarely do people go back into my old posts and read again.  This is a typical attitude of the human heart, always wanting something different.  At this time of year we should not be greedily wondering want new thing we will be getting for Christmas.  Instead we should be looking at the old, old story, which is ever new of a baby who amazingly was God incarnate, God's gift to those who will put there trust in this one who was to grow up to give His life for His people.  Set aside the controversy over whether December 25th is the actual date of His birth.(Shepherds do not keep their sheep out at night in Israel in December.) and set aside time to think about the fact that He did come and ponder if He came to set you free and if your answer is ,"Yes," He will make you free indeed.