I wake up early, for no specific reason, and find that there are breakfast options, which is something of a luxury.  The options are, true to form, completely bizarre, and I end up with something billed as spaghetti bolognese but actually some other pasta dish.  Charlie had option 4 which ended up looking like the best choice, though I can’t actually remember what it was.

Today’s activities consisted of a Monestary visit and another Museum of Wooden Architecture.  I’m feeling a distinct sense of deja-vu, so Rob and I spend some time wandering around the tat market outside.

Music on the way back to Novgorod is a distinct improvement, though Sasha and Dimitri’s favourite CD is actually gaining fans amongst the group so I decide to get it as a souvenir and manage to swap it for a Queen greatest hits that I picked up yesterday (Russians seem to be big Queen fans for some reason)

Lunch is at a pancake house, but the pancakes are unlike any I’ve had before, and most have garlic in them which is a bit odd but in some cases quite tasty.  After lunch Rob and I try to find an internet cafe and are directed to the only one in Novgorod, where the proprieter informs us that there is “no internet today. run out”.  Maybe he’s expecting a delivery.

All the Kiwis showed up, so we went off on a boat tour of the city, which was nice and relaxing.  Back on shore we walked through the kremlin and local market, which was closing, and back to the river in time to witness a boat race in progress.

Back at the hotel, i spent a few hours catching up with my journal in the bar, bringing my own drinks which I’d bought in the same bar that morning and taken with me (something which the waitress seemed reluctant to understand and then to accept, so I ended up paying for them again).

Dinner was quite an event, in the poshest restaurant to date, and came with dancers, a magician and an MC with orange hair who tried to chat up Simone in Russian.  Sasha translated as “you must kiss me”.  It did not prove very successful.