Goritzy

Sunday, 23 May, 2010
Goritzy

Some time after leaving Yaroslavl we came to last of the locks on the Volga River but this time instead of going down in the lock to sail out water was flooded in and the boat rose around ten metres. Sailing out of the lock, on a point of land before entering a lake, was the statue of Mother Volga.

During the night we entered the Shekna River and arrived at Goritzy in the morning, a little later than our scheduled time which was unfortunate given the history of the area.

Goritzy is a small village with a population of around 1300, however, it is visited by many holiday cruise ships whose passengers make the 7km journey by bus to the Kirillov-Belozersky Russian Orthodox Monastery on the shore of the White Lake (Lake Siverskoye) and we were no exception. Leaving our ship a bus took us past some fascinating wooden houses, almost all of the buildings in this region were made of wood which was not surprising given the huge woods and the large national park nearby.

There are two religious establishments in the area, the Kirillov-Belozersky monastery and the Goritzy nunnery, both of which have powerful historical associations with Ivan the Terrible. The Kirillov-Belozersky monastery features at both the beginning and end of Ivan's life. Before he was born, his parents prayed here for God to give them an heir. Then when Ivan was an old sick man dying in agony he begged the monks here to pray for God to forgive him his bloody deeds. Apparently the monks believed that the terrible Tsar had changed and were even waiting for him to become a monk, but it never happened!

The Kirillov-Belozersky monastery dates back to 1397 when monk called the Kirill (Cyril) who came from a wealthy family, decided to leave the easy life in Moscow as a result of a vision and look for a remote place where he could become closer to God and he originally built a wooden church on the site of the monastery.

The new monastery prospered and in the 16th century, it was the largest monastery and the second richest landowner in Russia and became a refuge for many nobles during the Time of Troubles. The monastery walls, 732 meters long and 7 meters thick, were constructed in 1654-80. They incorporate parts of the earlier citadel, which helped to withstand the Polish siege in 1612. Unfortunately, it couldn't resist the Bolsheviks who ordered the monks to be shot or sent to labour camps, though it was one of few monasteries which were not turned into concentration camps. The monastery managed to preserve much of its historic treasures and under Soviet control it was turned into a museum and contains the oldest surviving icons in Russia. The museum has a large collection of treasures and icons which were saved from the Bolsheviks, including items of apparel and personal possessions belonging to the founder, St Cyril.

Peter the Great also visited the monastery but not for religious purposes, taking away its bells for the metal to make canons to fight the Swedes and also forcing the young Monks into the army and navy.

The nearby nunnery was founded in 1554 by Princess Efrosiniya, the wife of one of Ivan the Terrible's sons. Unfortunately, she became one of Ivan's numerous victims, when Ivan began to suspect her and her son of treason, and the tsar had her cruelly drowned in the river Shekna. Worse was to follow, when Ivan turned the monastery into his own personal harem, his first and fourth wives were also exiled here.

After a short visit to such an interesting place we returned to the ship which sailed at 1:00 pm. About three hours after sailing we passed a Church built in the 1700s which was a victim of the flooding caused by the canal construction.

Uglich & Yaroslavl

Friday, May 21, 2010

Uglich

According to the day’s programme we were to arrive at Uglich at 2:00 pm but we tied up at 11:00, the expected delays at the locks didn’t occur. Uglich is an historic town on the Volga River, local tradition dates the town's origins to 937, it was first documented in 1148 as Ugliche Pole (Corner Field), the town's name is thought to allude to the nearby turn in the Volga River.

During the reign of Ivan the Terrible the town passed to his only brother, Yuri. After Ivan's death, his youngest son Dimitry Ivanovich was banished to Uglich in 1584. The most famous event in the town's history took place on May 15, 1591 when the 10-year old boy was found dead with his throat cut in the palace courtyard. Suspicion immediately fell on the tsar's chief advisor, Boris Godunov . Official investigators concluded however that Dimitry's death was an accident. They cut a "tongue" from the cathedral bell that rung the news of Dimitry's death and "exiled" it to Siberia.

The Romanov tsars made it their priority to canonize the martyred tsarevitch and to turn Uglich into a place of Pilgrimage. On the spot where Dimitriy had been murdered the city in 1690 built the small Church of St Demetrios on the Blood, with its red walls and blue domes. This church is very prominent as we approached the town on the Volga.

After lunch we went on a walking tour of this small town, having to run the gauntlet of 150 m. of souvenir stalls. Our walk first took us to the Cathedral of Our Saviour’s Transfiguration and then on to St Demetrios Church. After these visits we were treated to a concert by five male singers, who sang a number of religious and traditional songs. Wandering back to the ship we sailed at 6:00 pm.

In the evening as the boat sailed through Rybinskoye Reservoir on the Volga River, we were treated to a lovely sunset at 10:30 pm.

The reservoir was created in the mid 1930s when Stalin constructed the canal to complete the system from Moscow to St Petersburg, it didn’t worry him that 700 villages were flooded and thousands of people displaced. The reservoir is so large that it takes seven hours to sail across it.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Yaroslavl

Like yesterday our boat arrived several hours before the expected time and when we looked out our window at 6:00 am we were already moored.

The city founded in 1010 is preparing to celebrate its 1000^th year in September and there are several major building projects under way. The most spectacular is the rebuilding of a major cathedral destroyed by Stalin in the 1930s. In this decade Stalin destroyed thousands of Churches all through Russia and in many cases used the materials to build apartment blocks on the site.

We left at 8:00 for a tour of the city, driving past many churches and old buildings and arriving at the confluence of the local river, Kotorosi and the Volga.

From there we were taken to a small art gallery where there was a display of lacquer ware from four villages, each with a different style. Only one colour is applied at a time and then a coat of lacquer and polished and then the next colour so there may be twenty layers before the picture is finished, many of the colours are applied by a single hair brush.

Prices for the boxes range from around $120 to $6,000

From the gallery we drove to one of the oldest churches in the city which dates back to the 17th Century and belongs to the so-called Yaroslavl type (built of red brick, with bright tiled exteriors). This was the Church of Elijah the Prophet which has some of the most impressive frescoes in this region and apart from cleaning the candle soot from them they haven’t needed any restoration even after over 300 years from when they were painted.

Returning to the boat we sailed at noon for our next port, Goritzy

Farewell to Moscow

Thursday, May 20, 2010

We awoke to sunshine for our last day in Moscow and half day bus tour. Again it took over an hour to reach the city centre, if the traffic wasn’t so dangerous I’m sure a cyclist could do the trip in half an hour.

On the bus we again drove past Red Square, the Kremlin and St Basil’s Cathedral before making our first stop for a panoramic view of the outside of the New Maiden’s Nunnery, this nunnery as well as accepting Novices was also used by Noble families to control troublesome members of their family. Peter the Great banished his sister there after she tried to over-throw him and assume the throne.

In a park across the lake from the Nunnery was a statue of a large mother duck followed by a number of ducklings, this was commissioned after a visit of Barbara Bush, when the normal population of ducks on the lake were absent, and she commented about the lack of ducks.

Our next stop was at Sparrow Hills one of the highest points in Moscow (220 m.) where an observation platform provided a view over the City, the 1980 Olympic Game’s Stadium and the Moscow River, the whole area was populated with souvenir sellers hoping to relieve the tourists of the Roubles, Dollars or Euros. Our guides advised us to avoid these and to wait till we arrived at the small towns along the river where we could obtain genuine hand made items, if we wanted a souvenir.

Driving on we stopped near "bow-down hill"; metaphorically "Worshipful Submission Hill"') is, at 171.5 metres, one of the highest spots in Moscow. Its two summits used to be separated by the Setun River until one of the summits was razed in 1987. Historically, the hill had great strategic importance, as it commanded the best view of the Russian capital. Its name is derived from the Russian for "to bow down", as everyone approaching the capital from the west was expected to do homage here. In 1812, it was the spot where Napoleon in vain expected the keys to the Kremlin to be brought to him by the Russians.

Victory Park, in the 1960s, the Soviet authorities decided to put the area to use as an open air museum; dedicated to the Russian victory over Napoleon. The Moscow triumphal arch, erected in wood in 1814 and in marble in 1827. At this location we descended ninety metres to board the Metro at Victory Park Station on the Red Line.

Like many underground systems all the lines are colour coded on the maps to make it easier to find your way around. The Metro has 12 lines and 173 stations with lines being extended and new stations being added every year. In peak hour trains run every 30 seconds and then every 2 minutes and in the quiet periods every 5 minutes. Melbourne commuters “eat your heart out”. Arriving at Arbatskaya station we walked for a while along the Arbat shopping mall before being picked up by our bus to return to the boat for our 2:30 pm departure from Moscow.

Tonight we have the Captain’s reception and Welcome Aboard dinner – strange timing as we have been onboard for four days, though I supposed this is the first day of sailing.

Copenhagen and on to Moscow

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Copenhagen

After breakfast we walked about 3km to the Anglican Church of St Albans to attend the morning service. The Church is very close to the Citadel which was bombarded by the English in 1807 and now in the same area the English have established their Church. We were informed by members of the congregation that when the Church was dedicated many of the Royal Families of Europe attended, including the Czar.

We then walked to the King’s Gardens which had a lovely display of spring bulbs though many are still to flower and many of the trees still don’t have any leaves, due to the cold Spring.

The grounds are part of Rosenborg Palace which was built by Christian IV in 1606 as a country summerhouse, a small two storied house with a tower but in 1624 it was enlarged to a multi storied building with several towers.

Today the palace isn’t used as a home for the Royal family and houses a collection of personal belonging of members of the Royal Family over the past 400 years. The highlight of the collection is in a basement vault where the Danish Crown Jewels are displayed. The earliest crown dating from the 1600s was magnificent, weighing 2 ½ kg. of gold with over 1000 diamonds, the open worked metal contains 100s of tiny enamelled figures as well as other decorations and unlike the later crown the inside is similarly decorated.

From the palace we walked to the Botanic Gardens and in spite of the cold weather many people were enjoying the spring display, although it is probably several weeks away from its peak.

On the way back to our hotel we visited the Round Tower, this was completed in 1642 and is 35 m. high, this building was used as the Danish Observatory from 1650 to 1861 and also housed the university library until it out grew the rooms. The highlight of the tower is the spiral ramp which is 200 m. long and spirals around the core 7 ½ times to the top. Many people have ridden horses or driven carriages to the top and in the early 1900s a tourist drove his car up the ramp. The outside platform provides an excellent view over the city but as it was raining again this view was restricted.

In the evening we went to the Tivoli Gardens which has been the favourite recreation park for Danes

for over 100 years, though now the early idea of gardens and amusements has become much commercialised. During our walk through the gardens Ann made a new friend, Rasmus Klump.

On our last visit 24 years ago there were many more gardens and only a few restaurants and small pubs, now there are dozens and an amusement park with about double the rides of Luna Park, many that we don’t have in Australia. Rides prices range between $5 and $15 and when the $20 entrance fee is added it can be an expensive day out. There is also a “sideshow alley” with various activities to win prizes, though winners are few and far between. Meals are also expensive, we had dinner at a carvery, the equivalent of two roast dinners and half a bottle of wine cost $100.

The gardens at this time of year had large displays of spring bulbs, some of the tulips and daffodils were so large the appeared to be on steroids. The lake at the Tivoli is still the centre point of the gardens, with many restaurants around the edge and on a rock in the lake is a copy of the Little Mermaid statue; this copy of the original is owned by the family of the sculptor and has been loaned by them while the original is in Shanghai.

Scattered through the gardens are several sound shells where various concerts are held during the day, we sat and listened to a performance of a stringed orchestra, very pleasant though a little chilly with the temperature around 8C.

A highlight of the night was the parade of the Tivoli’s Boys Guard, over 50 boys dressed in Scarlet Uniforms and Busbies, which included a brass band, a gold coach drawn by to white ponies and a boy on a white horse. At the rear of the parade a group of boys dressed in naval uniforms, all the guard were carrying small rifles and the officers drawn swords, a very impressive display.

Back to the hotel to try to squeeze everything back into our cases.

Monday, May 17, 2010

Off to Moscow

Up early and after a quick breakfast we walked to the station to catch the train to the airport, the line runs to Malmo and stops at a station beneath the airport, a quick 12 minute journey. Quick check in and we declined the offer to transfer to Aeroflot Airline, I think they were over booked. We waited for our flight in the SAS lounge and were able to connect by Skype to have a quick chat with our family at home.

The flight to Moscow took two hours and on arrival we had to move our watches forward by another two hours so it appeared that the flight took four hours.

There was a long delay to pass through immigration and in spite of the delay we still had to wait another half hour before our luggage appeared on the carousel but we went straight through customs. Outside we were met with a representative from the cruise company and also sunshine, the first we had seen since leaving home. The trip to the boat took about half an hour and there were about 15 cruise boats moored along the river at the edge of a large wooded park. The park and port were built by Stalin in the 1930s.

Before dinner those on board had a welcome talk by the cruise director, many passenger were still to arrive as several flights have been delayed by the volcanic ash, hopefully they will arrive before we depart on Thursday for St Petersburg.

Our first meal was nice buffet dinner, where we were looked after by a very friendly staff, many of them from the Philippines.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Moscow - Kremlin & Red Square

The morning was spent with safety lecture and familiarising ourselves with the boat and after lunch we left on our first tour.

The drive into Moscow centre was extremely slow as the traffic moved even slower than Beijing. During Soviet times there were only 10,000 vehicles in Moscow, by the turn of the Century 100,000 and now 4 million, with an additional 3 million commuting into Moscow each day so at times it took ten minutes to cover 100 metres.

Our first stop was at the Kremlin which is the old walled city of Moscow which was built in the late 1400s replacing the old wooden wall and buildings. Grand Prince Ivan III organised the reconstruction of the Kremlin, invited a number of skilled architects from Renaissance Italy, who designed the new Kremlin wall and its towers, and the new palace for the prince. It was during his reign that three extant cathedrals of the Kremlin, the Deposition Church, and the Palace of Facets were constructed. The highest building of the city and Muscovite Russia was the Ivan the Great Bell Tower, built in 1505–08 and augmented to its present height in 1600. The Kremlin walls as they now appear were built between 1485 and 1495. Spasskie gates of the wall still bear a dedication in Latin praising Petrus Antonius Solarius for the design. Kremlin Gate & aerial view

After construction of the new kremlin walls and churches was complete, the monarch decreed that no structures should be built in the immediate vicinity of the citadel. The Kremlin was separated from the walled merchant town by a 30-metre-wide moat, over which the Intercession Cathedral on the Moat was constructed during the reign of Ivan the Terrible . The same tsar also renovated some of his grandfather's palaces, added a new palace and cathedral for his sons, and endowed the Trinity metochion inside the Kremlin. The metochion was administrated by the Trinity Monastery and boasted the graceful tower church of St Sergius, which was described by foreigners as one of the finest in the country.

The new Kremlin still contains several cathedrals, churches and palaces, many of the old palace buildings are now used as offices including the one used by the President and apart from the Presidential Guard nobody lives in the Kremlin, people come in each day to work. I wonder what the old Soviet workers thought about being surrounded by so many beautiful religious buildings.

We left the Kremlin through the same gate as we entered and drove half way around the walls to arrive at Red Square which has a history going back to the 15^th Century when it was known as Market Place. Workman were busy repairing the damage to the cobble stone caused by the parade celebrating the 60^th anniversary of the ending of WW2 and after seeing on TV, all the parades through Red Square, we were surprised how small it is. Flanking Red Square at one end is the magnificent St Basil’s Cathedral commissioned by Ivan the Terrible, beside the wall of the Kremlin is the tomb of Lenin and against the wall are the graves and memorials of many Soviet “Heroes” including Stalin and Yuri Gargarin. On the other side of Red Square is the GUM department store, the home of modern day capitalism and decadence, Stalin must be spinning in his grave.

The Moscow of today is similar to what we are used to in the West, the displays, goods and advertising posters are the same, except they are in Russian, styles department Storeand fashions and the brands are the same as found in our stores. GUM Department Store

From Red Square we drove, again very slowly to one of Catherine the Great’s palaces, where we were treated to a wonderful concert of classical, modern and traditional music performed on the traditional Russian folk instruments, including balalaikas, bayans, domras and guslies as well as other wind and percussion instruments. The musicians were students and graduates from university music school and the group was conducted by their Professor.

After the concert we returned to the boat for a late, 9:30, dinner.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Moscow – Seigiev Posad

The Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius is the most important Russiam monastery and the spiritual centre of theRussian Orthodox Church The monastery is situated in the town of Sergiev Posad, about 70 km to the north-east from Moscow by the road leading to Yaroslavl, and currently is home to over 300 monks. This town is the home of Troitse-Sergieva monastery which is considered to be the spiritual centre of the Russian Orthodox Church, it was once the home of the Patriarch but he now has his palace in Moscow. The walled area contains the monastery, the home of the monks, a seminary and education establishment, and several Cathedrals, one of which contains the remains of the founder St. Sergius.

The monastery was founded in 1345 by one of the most venerated Russian saints, Sergius of Radonesh, who built a wooden church in honour of the Holy Trinity on Makovets Hill. Early development of the monastic community is well documented in contemporary lives of Sergius and his disciples.

In 1355, Sergius introduced a charter which required the construction of auxiliary buildings, such as refrectory, kitchen, and bakery. This charter was a model for Sergius' numerous followers who founded more than 400 cloisters all over Russia, including the celebrated Solovetsky, Kirilov and Simonov monasteries.

St. Sergius supported Dimitri Donski in his struggle against the Tartars and sent two of his monks, Perresvet and Oslyabya, to participate in the Battle of Kulikovo (1380). At the outbreak of the battle Peresvet died in a single combat against a Tatar bogatyr. The monastery was devastated by fire, when a Tatar unit raided the area in 1408. St. Sergius was declared patron saint of the Russian state in 1422.

This monastery is venerated by Russians and is a place of Pilgrimage, it is estimated that in modern Russia, 50% of the population have a religious belief and the visitors today covered a full range of ages from the very young to the very old.

After lunch it took two hours to travel the 70 km to return to the boat, a similar time to the morning’s trip. The wonders of modern transport.

Take Off Wednesday 12th May

An easy trip to the Airport and a quick check in with Thai Airways, who gave us an express pass that, allowed us to by-pass the queues at Security and Immigration and if Ann hadn’t forgotten she had a little bottle of water in her hand luggage we would have been through in a minute.

Our Business Class Boarding Pass gave us access to Air New Zealand’s lounge so we able to have a snack and read the newspapers till we were called on board.

For the first time that I can remember we pushed off from the terminal five minutes before our departure time and were soon in the air heading for Bangkok. Once we were at cruising height the Thai cabin staff served a delicious five course meal and we sat back and read watched movies or listened to music, until they served a “midnight snack” shortly before our arrival in Bangkok.

We had a little over an hour between landing and boarding our Scandinavian Airlines flight to Copenhagen and as we had eaten well on the previous flight we declined the offer of more food and drink and as it was the equivalent of 2:00 am Melbourne time, settled back to attempt to sleep. Two hours before our arrival the cabin lights were switched on and breakfast was served.

A little over eleven hours after departing from Bangkok we arrived at Copenhagen at 6:30 am on Thursday 13^th May, and surprise, Immigration only looked at our passports, no forms to complete, then our cases were second and third on the carousel, the first time ever for us and no customs. We just walked out the door, purchased two train tickets and after a short train ride and a walk, we arrived at our hotel around 1½ hours from landing and we were able to access our room immediately.

The rest of the day we spent wandering around the centre of town and past the world famous Tivoli Gardens, to get our bearings and to stay awake until bed time.

Copenhagen Friday 14^th May

First stop today was the City Hall, a magnificent building with a 105 m. clock tower and although it was only completed in 1905 it is reminiscent of the many imposing Town Hall throughout Europe.

A sign on a door in the building caught our attention; I don’t think it is the Danish access to Heaven and I presume it allows access to a small lift.

Outside City Hall there is a statue of one Copenhagen’s most famous citizens, Hans Christian Anderson and Ann, keeping with tradition, joined him for a photograph.

From City Hall we walked Stroget the famous pedestrian street also known as the Spine of the City.

This street is lined with many fashion shops as well as restaurants and leads to the King’s New Square with the imposing statue of Christian V, which was cast in 1688, the first equestrian statue in Scandinavia. The Royal Danish Theatre is beside the square but these days the Opera and Ballet are performed in the modern Opera Housewhich is disliked by many Danes.

Walking on, we arrived at Amalienborg Palace, actually four palaces flanking a large square, one occupied by the Queen and another by the Crown Prince and Princess Mary and their children. This palace has recently been restored and as the work was paid for by the Danish people, the Prince and Princess decreed that it should be opened to allow people to see what they have paid for. There was a three hour wait in the queue, not a lot of fun in a temperature of 8C so we decided to miss the visit.

Outside each Palace were twin Sentry boxes and a Sentry in a very casual pose, arms folded and his rifle held between his arms, these Sentries are on duty for 24 hours, 2 hours on, four hours off. At 12 noon the new guard marched into the square and the old guard was replaced. Unlike in London, the public are allowed in the square and the Police move the crowd aside to allow the guard to march to the various Sentry points. The Police are only present during the changing so the guards carry loaded rifles in case of any problems whilst on duty.

On our last visit to Copenhagen, 24 years ago, after viewing the changing of the guard with friends, their five year old daughter asked, “But when are they going to change.” She thought they were going to change their clothes and put on pyjamas.

We ate lunch in a park at the edge of the waterway, opposite the new Opera House and we tend to agree with many locals, it is not an attractive building.

Walking along the waterway past the Royal Yacht we arrived at the Gefion Fountain, which commemorates the goddess Gefion turning her four sons into oxen and ploughing up land to form the island of Zealand. Close to the fountain is the Anglican Church of St Albans. Further along the waterway we arrived at the location where the Little Mermaid is usually located but the Danish Government has sent her to be displayed at the World Expo in Shanghai.

If she hadn’t gone on a holiday this is what we would have seen.

Continuing our walk we crossed a bridge to an artificial Island, known as the Citadel which is known by the locals as the Kastellet. Its construction was started by King Christian IV of Denmark as far back as 1626 with the building of an entrenchment in the northern part of the defence wall of Copenhagen. Kastellet was used in the defence of Copenhagen against England in the Battle of Copenhagen (1807). Today the military still has living quarters and residences which once accommodated 1800 people.

From the Citadel we visited the Museum of Danish Resistance, dedicated to the resistance movement during the German occupation from 1940 - 45.

On our way back to the hotel we spent a few minutes visiting the round Frederick's Church, popularly known as the Marble Church was built to commemorate the 300 years jubilee of the first coronation of a member of the House of Oldenburg. Frederick's Church has the largest church dome in Scandinavia with a span of 31m. The dome rests on 12 columns.

Copenhagen Saturday 15^th May

This morning we awoke to pouring rain which caused us to re-arrange our intended sight seeing and we set off to the National museum, along with many others who also had the same idea. The main exhibition traces Denmark from the Stone Age to around Viking times, with rooms full of artefacts recovered from all around Denmark, ranging from stone implements and weapons to many kilograms of silver and gold objects and every thing in between, a very interesting exhibit.

On leaving the museum we found it was still raining heavily so we decided that our planned visit to the Tivoli Gardens would have to be put off, hopefully to tomorrow, as we only have one more day in this lovely city before flying to Moscow.

This is It - We're Off

The day has arrived, we are off in two hours and we are still trying to complete jobs around the house and trying to remember if we have forgotten anything. Providing we have our passport, credit card and flight and accommodation details it doesn't matter if we have forgotten to pack something or have left a job undone.

Our first leg of the trip is Melbourne to Bangkok with Thai Airlines and then on to Copenhagen with SAS, to spend four days in Copenhagen. Unfortunately we won't see the Little Mermaid, that has been sent to Shanghai for the World Expo.

Whenever I can access the internet I hope to post details and photos of our progress.

Time to switch off the computer before one last check around the house.

Planning Progress Report

The plans for our trip are progressing well, today we received our Russian Visas, possible the most difficult part of our travel arrangements but we have helped the Russian Balance of Payments - $110 each!

Before flying in to Moscow we are going to spend four nights in Copenhagen and after St Petersburg we travel to Helsinki for three nights then by ferry to Tallinn in Estonia for two night and on to Stockholm for five nights.

From Stockholm we travel for four days on a 135 year old boat along the rivers and Lakes to Gothenburg were we will spend three night before flying to Edinburgh for three nights.

After Edinburgh we have twenty days and night to plan before we arrive in London for three nights. We have purchased tickets to the Hampton Court Flower Show and when we visited the Chelsea Flower show two years ago, many people told us that the Hampton Court show was better than Chelsea, we'll let you know in July.

Now to continue with our planning and arranging a car for three weeks to travel around Scotland and down to London.

A bit over ninety sleeps to go.