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20 V I K I N G C R U I S E S building with 23-foot thick walls. Next stop Yaroslavl, an old city of about 600,000 inhabitants, which sits 170 miles from Moscow at the confluence of the rivers Volga and Kotorosi. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, it is one of the eight Golden Ring Cities that were important in the establishing of the Orthodox Church and are so rich in historical architecture that they are regarded as open- air museums. e next morning, as we sailed serenely by all the identifying landmarks of any large modern city, I had a light breakfast in the Panorama lounge at the front of the ship with its uninterrupted views. I was most struck by the huge and numerous modern high-rise apartment buildings. We arrived in Moscow after lunch and, over the next few days, explored the stunning, efficient metro system and its famous decorated stations, took in a folk music concert, picnicked in a park, cruised the Moscow River and, of course, we couldn't miss Red Square and a guided tour inside the walls of the Kremlin on our last day. Viking includes virtually every 'must-see' aspect of Moscow with additional opportunities to visit the fascinating Cosmonaut Museum, the Jewish Museum, the Moscow State Circus and the Tretyakov State Gallery. What's more, our guide, Sasha, came with us on our two-hour journey past more huge apartment blocks to the modern airport and smoothed our way through what seemed like chaos. Overall, our Russian river cruise was a relaxing and hugely stimulating experience. One of our most striking memories might seem odd: the cleanliness – even in Moscow. No packaging, cigarette butts or chewing gum littered the streets and our guides found it hard to comprehend that people in the West will casually drop their litter. Now when we see discarded street rubbish at home, we find ourselves saying, 'it wouldn't be like that in Moscow'. Oh, and it's still illegal to have a dirty car in Russia. A 13-day Waterways of the Tsars cruise starts from $7,395pp, departing in May 2019. vikingcruises.com.au Don't forget to share your photos at MyVikingStory.com To cap off our final day in this remarkable city, we enjoyed a lively Cossack folk song-and-dance performance with vodka Moscow, Russia Moscow, Russia DOUBLE YOUR EXPLORER SOCIETY DISCOUNT