The boat stopped - so I had a little chat with May about a proposed 'walkabout' here, and then took some photos. Also had a quick chat with another English person - the typical Civil Servant and history enthusiast. After breakfast, I went for a walk in PLES visiting its older 'country' areas.
We took photos of the village and each other and returned for a short time to the boat.
I then went out on my own in the other direction (where the main bunch of people had gone) and met Al and Priscilla on their way back - so returned with them to the boat. On our return, I sat in the shade (very necessary) with May, reminiscing about the village, before going back to my own cabin and listening to some Russian music whilst eating some Russian fruit! I followed this up by going to one of the 'talks' on-board - for obtaining a better 'feel' about Russia. This one was by Lena who was talking about 'Russain Costume'. She spoke about the differences by Region as well as the variations with 'time'. After the talk we were getting quite close to Kostroma - so I took a photo of the place whilst still South of there on the Volga. People were in small groups, of four to eight people, by the side of that great river, quietly enjoying their weekends. All very tranquil! I read some of my Library Book (on the USSR) from a chair on deck 5. The sun was so strong, but I went for the shade as a sensible precaution. On our arrival at Kostroma, during a big lunch, the temperature was really excessive - and I could not find May - so I went to town on my own - via 'the front', a not too pleasant route in this, or any, temperature!! But from the maps I had available - it seemed the sensible way to go. I took many photos on my arrival at the very attractive town, but could have taken more.
It was so enthralling. Due to the temperature, I purchased a 2-litre bottle of Pepsi, eventually, and further explored this beautiful place with its Spanish and Greek-style arches and market place area which extended over quite a few blocks. It even had blocks-within- blocks. I love this place- so well designed and so well maintained. (But SO HOT!!)
I then returned to our boat (the Russ) by an entirely different way to that which I'd climbed up to the town. The map in my library book was a great help in this (very simple) task. The heat of the town gave rise to hear-dehydration which I cured back in my own cabin by samples of my 'own' refreshments. I recovered with both liquids and solids!! Having been very impressed with the scenery, architecture - and the general ambience of the place (despite its heat) - I came across May, quietly reading on board, so told her about what I'd seen. She liked what she heard so I planned for a return to Kostroma's centre for the two of us. To make things even more pleasant on this trip, I decided to ascend to town on my newly found (previous descent) route. This way, we could take an attractive walk via a park - even on the way UP! May took quite a few photos whilst I acted as her guide. I also had the benefit of reviewing the sites in the company of a very pleasant person. So we were both satisfied, despite the heat which never 'let-up'. On the way back to the boat we found a nice seat in the shade for relaxation having enjoyed Kostroma so much. A very nice experience!! We each got a copy of the "Moscow Times" from the boat where we are now double-parked in (sorry, triple-parked is a more accurate description of our situation!). The triple-parked ship moved away from our double-parked group at 5.35pm - heading south for the Caspian Sea. We will head north, in about half an hour's time, towards the Baltic.