Sailed from Moscow city along the Moscow canal to join the Volga River. I don’t quite know what I expected but the scenery is beautiful – extremely treed banks with cycle and walking paths, the domes of churches poking through, little villages & dacha tucked alongside & a marina or two. People are out enjoying the countryside – fishing, picnicking, camping, water-skiing and sailing. It really is stunning. Not crowds but small groups and pairs scattered about. Late evening we negotiated the first of 17 locks – us and another large riverboat – took about 2 hours to complete manoeuvre.
