As a result of the construction and diversions, the Volga no longer is a free-flowing river but a series of reservoirs held back by huge dams. One is the Rybinsk Reservoir, which drowned a vast area of lowlands and some of the most fertile soils in northern Russia. Also eliminated were a prosperous town of 7,000 and some 600 villages and settlements, expelling tens of thousands from their homes.

The plight of those enclaves became startlingly evident when our cruise ship steamed past weathered statues that once stood atop verdant hilltops and past tilted, crumbling bell towers that once adorned stately cathedrals now ensconced in watery graves.

Our lecture-enhanced trip was under the auspices of Alumni Holidays International, a seasoned travel firm catering to university alumni groups. This sojourn was the domain of enlivened alumni from the University of California in Berkeley, with a sprinkling of representatives from other colleges and universities in the U.S.

On this cruise the cozy, three-decked, 360-foot-long river cruise ship, the M/S Repin, comfortably accommodated 80 U.S. passengers, 20 Russian tourists and an attentive crew/staff of 70. Some 60 similar tourist-laden ships ply the waterway during the summer, each making an average of eight two-way navigations a season. As the crow flies, the distance between Moscow and St. Petersburg is 400 miles, and it's an eight-hour trip by rail.

Ship-borne dining wasn't a gastronomic bonanza by any means (read cold french fries) but on a scale of 10, my meal-o-meter read 6.5. Earning a much higher grade was an oft-served salad comprised of cucumbers, crab and seaweed.

Muscular, bustling, bureaucratic and blue-collar, Moscow served up an exceptional introduction to the country — the storied (and once-mysterious) Kremlin, stunning palaces, Red Square, hundreds of giant apartment complexes under construction, impressive subway system, Bolshoi Ballet Theater (unfortunately closed for a three-year remodel), the Armory Museum and its fabled Faberge egg displays, and St. Basil's Cathedral, the religious symbol of Russia.

St. Petersburg afforded our visit a graceful, canal-enhanced and sophisticated conclusion, thanks to the Hermitage Museum (2.3 million exhibits, including 26 Rembrandt paintings), limousine-served Grand Hotel Europe, fine shopping opportunities, compelling sidewalk restaurants and St. Isaac's Cathedral, whose dome is covered with 220 pounds of pure gold.

But the zestful spice of the trip was in the five dockings of the M/S Repin (named in honor of a notable Russian poet):