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Industry mourns loss of Viking Yachts founder Robert Healey, Sr.

Robert T. Healey Sr., the co-founder of the Viking Yacht Company who helped build the company into an industry leader and led the fight that repealed the Federal Luxury Tax on yachts in the early 1990s, passed away last week at the age of 92.

“My father was a true leader, and his vision will always guide us,” said his son, Robert Healey Jr. “He believed that the people around him – his family, friends and employees – lifted him to success and it was his obligation to leave the world a better place.”

Bob Healey Sr. and his brother Bill established Viking Yachts in 1964, and the company went on to become the largest manufacturer of sport fishing yachts in the world. But that success may have never been achieved without the determination and perseverance of Bob Healey. When a federal 10% luxury tax was imposed on yachts in 1991, thousands of people were laid off and hundreds of companies went out of business. Viking nearly went bankrupt, closed a plant in Florida and laid off all but 65 of its 1,500 boatbuilders.

Bob was instrumental in organizing a national, grass-roots campaign to fight the tax. He took the industry lead, organizing busloads of out-of-work boatbuilders to converge on Capitol Hill for demonstrations, and setting fire to a boat on a barge in Narragansett Bay as a highly effective symbol of protest. The tax was repealed 20 months later in 1993.

“My uncle’s efforts to repeal the Federal Luxury Tax on yachts will never be forgotten,” said Bill’s son and Viking Yachts President and CEO Pat Healey. “He saved not only Viking but the entire marine industry. He was the catalyst and leader, and he wouldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer. He was a brilliant lawyer and savvy businessman who was able to convince the politicians in Washington that this was very much a jobs issue. It was about good hardworking people losing their ability to provide for their families.

Bob’s 11th-hour lobbying efforts with Congressman Bill Hughes, who represented N.J.’s Second District, helped secure the votes needed to repeal the Luxury Tax in 1993. “It was a great victory for our family-owned-and-operated boatbuilding company, the people of New Jersey and everyone in the marine industry,” said Pat.

With Bill’s help, Bob privately funded the company out of his own savings, allowing Viking to tool up new models. The company came out of the gate running when the tax was finally repealed – and they never looked back.

Bob graduated from Camden Catholic High School, attended St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, graduating with a B.S. in Political Science, and earned a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. He practiced law in Camden County, N.J., for 25 years before retiring as a senior partner in the firm of Healey, Mueller and Tyler to devote himself full time to business interests.

In the 1950s, his brother Bill joined Bob in the real-estate development business. Among other projects, the two brothers acquired and developed the Bass River Marina in New Gretna, N.J. In 1964 a small, local builder of wooden boats, Peterson-Viking, was having financial trouble, and the brothers agreed to buy the company, changed the name to Viking Yachts, and relocated the business to their property adjoining the marina. The boatbuilding business soon occupied much of their time, so the brothers sold the marina and concentrated on building yachts. Bob was the company lawyer, moneyman and Chief Executive while his brother built the boats.

Committed to their mantra to build a better boat every day, Bill and Bob pushed Viking to the pinnacle of their industry with more than 5,000 boats delivered. They successfully steered the company through the ups and downs of economic cycles. “My father always said, ‘We’ve worked hard to get to the top of the mountain, we’re enjoying the view and we’re not going to give it up,’ ” remembers Bob Jr., currently the Co-Chairman of the Viking Group, which manages Viking Yachts, Viking Investments, Viking Associates, Viking Residential and Viking Developers.

As Viking’s Chairman of the Board for 57 years, Bob Healey Sr. diversified their financial interests into multi-family, industrial and commercial real estate, oil and gas exploration and development, and the financial management of the Healey family assets.

Together, Bill and Bob Healey achieved many milestones. In 1996, they founded the Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA), a non-profit organization formed in 1996 to promote sustainable fisheries and a healthy marine environment. Viking has contributed well over $1 million to the RFA. In that same year, the brothers established Viking Sport Cruisers, a company that has been highly successful distributing British-built, high end cruising yachts, built to Viking’s specifications, through its dealer network in North America. Bob, Bill and Pat received the Ernst & Young 1998 New Jersey Manufacturing Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Fifteen years later, the family would earn a second award from Ernst & Young.

Ironically, the Healeys bought back Bass River Marina in 2002 and reopened it as the Viking Yachting Center. They were inducted in 2003 into the National Marine Manufacturers Association Hall of Fame for their outstanding contributions to the marine industry.

In honor of their service and commitment to the marine industry for more than a half a century, Bill and Bob were honored with the 2019 IBI-METSTRADE Boat Builder Lifetime Achievement Award, which was accepted by Bob Jr.

Bob received many more awards for his achievements, including induction into the NJ Marine Trade Association Hall of Fame and the Rowan University Milestone Award. Bob also channeled his financial success into philanthropic interests, which included building schools in impoverished areas of Mexico, and providing housing, medical assistance, education, food and clean water to the people of war-torn Sierra Leone through the Healey International Relief Foundation. “My father was a good man with a deep faith and commitment to service,” said Bob Jr., who recently announced his candidacy for Congress in New Jersey’s 3rd District. “No person or mission was ever a lost cause to him. He saw the potential in everyone and believed that our true worth and value in life is in our contributions to others.”

A devout Catholic and product of Catholic school education, Bob brought his business skills to the challenges facing Catholic schools in the U.S. and formed the Healey Education Foundation and the Catholic Partnership Schools in Camden.

With his wife Ellen, Bob founded the Gleneayre Equestrian Program for at-risk youth. The program uses the powerful connection between horses and people to support learning, growth and healing.

For his philanthropic efforts, Bob received the Lewis Katz Excellence in Education Award, the Beacon of Light Award, the Catholic Charities Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio Award for Leadership, an Honorary Doctorate Degree from Scranton University and the Shield of Loyola Award from St. Joseph’s University.

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Passing Of A Legend: Viking’s Robert Healey, Sr.

Robert Healey, Sr. – who cofounded the Viking Yacht Company with his brother Bill back in 1964 -passed away on December 9, 2021.  He was 92.

A graduate of Camden Catholic High School, St. Joseph’s University, and the University of Pennsylvania, where he obtained his law degree, Bob would spend 25 years dedicated to the field of law before he and Bill turned Viking into the #1 sportfishing yacht manufacturer in the world.

With Bill handling the boat manufacturing end, brother Bob steadfastly kept up on the business side of the equation.  As Viking’s Chairman of the Board for 57 years, Healey, Sr. diversified their financial interests into multi-family, industrial and commercial real estate, oil and gas exploration and development.  He would go on to receive numerous awards for his many achievements, including induction into the NJ Marine Trades Association Hall of Fame, as well as the National Marine Manufacturers Association Hall of Fame.

When the Healey brothers bought Peterson-Viking Builders, it was a small, struggling New Jersey builder of 37-foot, wooden sportfishing boats.  The first all-fiberglass Viking, the 33′ Convertible, wouldn’t roll off the New Gretna, NJ line until 1971.  But on their nearly six-decade journey towards becoming number one in the sportfishing game, Healey, Sr. also channeled his financial success into philanthropic interests, which included building schools in impoverished areas of Mexico, and providing housing, medical assistance, education, food and clean water to the people of war-torn Sierra Leone through the Healey International Relief Foundation.

Together with his wife Ellen, he also founded the Gleneayre Equestrian Program, which uses the unique connection between horses and people to support learning, growth, and healing to help support at-risk youth.

“My father was a true leader, and his vision will always guide us,” said his son, Robert Healey, Jr. who added “He believed that the people around him – his family, friends and employees – lifted him to success and it was his obligation to leave the world a better place.”

No Is Not An Answer

I was executive editor of The Fisherman Magazine in late 2008 when Mr. Healey called me on the phone to pitch me an idea. “Mr. Healey” is the only way I felt able to address him then, as I do today. It’s probably important to understand that my honor and respect for the Healey family came at an early age. My grandfather, James Becotte of Ocean City, had run boats for Post Marine in Mays Landing, and he would occasionally take me for tours of some of the local manufacturing facilities; our visit to the Viking facility in the 1970s somehow stuck out vividly in my memory.

So while working out of our Shirley, NY headquarters for just 2 short years, I was a bit surprised when Mr. Healey asked me over the phone to take the reins as managing director of the Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA). I politely declined, to which he responded rather emphatically that I should personally visit him and his son Bob, Jr. at the Healey’s horse farm. To paraphrase, “Nobody says no to me on the phone, you come out and here and tell me in person.” As I was beginning to learn, Mr. Healey was not the type of man to take “no” or “not” as an answer.

In the 1950s, the Healey brothers acquired and developed the Bass River Marina in New Gretna before buying Peterson-Viking in the 1960s. After renaming the company to Viking Yachts, the Healey’s moved the boat manufacturing facility to their property adjoining the marina. But as business began to occupy so much of their time, they sold off the marina to focus attention on Viking; Bob, Sr. the moneyman and Chief Executive, while Bill focused on the essentials of boat building.

Viking Yachts would go on to become what they are today, but not without one incredibly large obstacle that threatened to destroy everything. In November 1991, President George H.W. Bush signed off on a luxury tax aimed at reducing the federal budget deficit (despite that “read my lips” moment on the campaign trail). The 10% luxury tax was levied on watches, jewelry, expensive furs, private jets, expensive cars, and yes, boats and yachts too. While some Americans might see a tax on the rich as a worthy investment in the middle class, it would turn out to have many different results. As noted in a 1993 Baltimore Sun article, the Luxury Tax would cost billions of dollars in lost boat sales and tens of thousands of lost jobs between 1990 and 1993. Many boat manufacturers went belly up during this period, and Viking itself was forced to lay off all but 65 of its 1,500 boatbuilders.

As I said, Mr. Healey never responded well to no’s and not’s, and he was instrumental in spearheading a national, grassroots campaign to fight the tax. Mr. Healey took the industry lead, organized busloads of out-of-work boatbuilders to converge on Capitol Hill for demonstrations, and set fire to a boat on a barge in Narragansett Bay as a highly effective symbol of protest. He would continue to work with Rep. William Hughes of New Jersey’s second congressional district to help secure votes in Congress, and by August of 1993, President Bill Clinton officially signed the repeal of the “luxury tax” while citing an overwhelming loss of American jobs.

“My uncle’s efforts to repeal the Federal Luxury Tax on yachts will never be forgotten,” said Bill’s son and Viking Yachts President and CEO Pat Healey. “He saved not only Viking but the entire marine industry. He was the catalyst and leader, and he wouldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer.”

With his brother’s help, Mr. Healey privately funded the company out of his own savings, allowing Viking to tool up new models during the early 90s downturn. While sales from 1991 until 1993 were dismal to say the least, the Healey’s decision to remain open allowed the company to tool up for new models, which helped the company leapfrog competition in the mid-1990s. Once the Luxury Tax was finally repealed, Viking Yachts fired out of the gate, taking over the position of #1 sportfishing yacht manufacturer.

“He was a brilliant lawyer and savvy businessman who was able to convince the politicians in Washington that this was very much a jobs issue,” his nephew Pat said, adding “It was a great victory for our family-owned-and-operated boatbuilding company, the people of New Jersey and everyone in the marine industry.”

Thus it was sometime around Christmas of 2008 – not long after the passing of my grandmother Becotte – when I sat down personally with Mr. Healey and his son Bob, Jr. at their Gleneayre farm to discuss the RFA position offered by phone; the one which I’d already turned down. After trying the “no” route several more times during our meeting, I eventually agreed to give notice to The Fisherman in early January; I would spend the next 6 years at RFA working not far from the Viking facility in New Gretna.

The Politics Of Fishing

In the years that immediately followed the luxury tax repeal, Mr. Healey began to focus on the political solutions to problems plaguing the recreational fishing and boating industry. In 1996, he and former New Jersey charter boat captain Jimmy Donofrio helped establish RFA as a 501(C)(4) nonprofit political action organization to promote sustainable fisheries and a healthy marine environment. Over the past 25 years, Viking has contributed well over $1 million to the RFA efforts.

“I got to spend a lot of time with Bob driving to DC meeting with House and Senate members, and I was always amazed by his instinctive ability to analyze a situation and read people,” Donofrio said of Mr. Healey. “He was a brilliant leader and a mentor for me. He always told me just keep moving forward and get it done. I am happy he had a full life and I was glad to have some part in it over 25 years. Love you Bob,” Donofrio added.

Of Donofrio, Mr. Healey leaned towards me across his desk during that sit-down at the family farm in 2008, and in deadpan expression said “You see, Jimmy Donofrio is like nuclear energy, control it and you can power the world.” As he spoke, he brought his hands together with fingers entwined, before suddenly breaking his hands apart and saying “but if you can’t keep it under control, you could destroy the entire planet.”

It was a strange way to hammer the deal into place. Those who know Donofrio will no doubt appreciate the analogy. But those two men have very much been like father and son, loyal as the day is long, and patriots to the cause. The fact that Mr. Healey passed away just weeks before Donofrio’s official retirement from the RFA was perhaps more poignant than coincidental; both representing devastating losses to the fishing community as a whole.

Some cynics I’ve met over the years could never be convinced that Bob and Bill Healey cared much for the little guy, blindly viewing them simply as wealthy boatbuilders who only cared about their big boat customers. But as Mr. Healey would often explain to me, hardworking folks who make a modest living today strive for success in the future; a young plumber’s apprentice for example, working a 60-hour workweek so that he can climb aboard a skiff for a weekend of fluking, might someday step away from his own plumbing and supply company for a few hours each week to tool around in his 55′ Viking convertible called Pipe Dreams .

So as much as the Healey family has remained committed to a personal mantra “to build a better boat every day,” they also dedicated their personal and professional lives to looking out for everyone else in the recreational fishing and boating community, navigating some often treacherous political waters. As the saying goes, “a rising tide floats all boats.”

“My father always said, ‘We’ve worked hard to get to the top of the mountain, we’re enjoying the view and we’re not going to give it up,'” said Bob Jr. who is now co-chairman of the Viking Group which manages Viking Yachts, Viking Investments, Viking Associates, Viking Residential and Viking Developers. In fact, in following with his father’s belief in finding political solutions to solve problems, the younger Healey recently tossed his hat into the political ring in announcing his bid for Congress in 2022 running against Rep. Andy Kim in New Jersey’s third congressional district.

“The reason those boats are of such good quality is because we’ve got a 57-year history of having really great people that work alongside us,” Healey, Jr. was recently quoted as saying at NewJerseyGlobe.com , adding “We’re talking about 57 years of people who have been able to buy a house based on working for our company.”

“Some of them are immigrants. Some of them were born and raised here. Some of their families go back 300 years in places like Ocean County and Atlantic County… they’re all really good people,” Healey, Jr. told NewJerseyGlobe.com .

The Healeys repurchased Bass River Marina again in 2002, reopening it as the Viking Yachting Center. Along with the Viking Yacht Company, the marina complex also includes Breeze’s Bar and Grill on the Bass River along with a fuel dock. In 2016, Viking also purchased the Ocean Yacht facility in Egg Harbor City – roughly 9 miles from the New Gretna facility – where Viking Mullica builds the new line of Valhalla Boatworks center consoles from 33 to 46 feet.

All together both South Jersey facilities employ roughly 1,100 good people.

Perrine, Leek, Cavileer, Hankins, Henriques, Hunt, Post, Olsen, Peterson; the list of family names in New Jersey boatbuilding history is a long one, dating back to colonial times. And while Viking may be the brand best known around the globe today, it’s the Healey name that will carry along with the other legends of New Jersey’s rich seafaring lineage.

Fair winds and following seas Mr. Healey.

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Robert Healey, Viking Yachts co-founder, dies at 92

The New Jersey shipbuilding executive led a successful campaign against a luxury-boat tax in the 1990s.

New Jersey yacht-building executive Robert T. Healey Sr., 92, who led a successful campaign against a luxury-boat tax in the 1990s that involved setting fire to a vessel in New England’s Narraganset Bay to publicize the issue, died Dec. 9. The cause of death was not disclosed.

Mr. Healey, a lawyer and co-founder of New Gretna, Burlington County-based Viking Yacht Co. , had spent 25 years as a business lawyer when he turned his focus to Viking Yachts, which he and his brother Bill acquired in 1964. As Viking’s chairman for 57 years, Mr. Healey expanded the business to encompass apartment buildings, industrial and commercial real estate, and oil and gas exploration.

Mr. Healey was also the father of Robert Healey Jr., a Republican candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in New Jersey’s Third District.

While he was Viking’s chief executive, Mr. Healey led his industry’s response to a 10% tax on yachts and other luxury vessels imposed in 1991, which the company said had resulted in thousands of layoffs and the dissolution of hundreds of companies nationwide.

In 1993, after Mr. Healey organized busloads of out-of-work boatbuilders to converge on Capitol Hill for demonstrations and arranged to have a boat set ablaze on a barge in Narragansett Bay in Road Island, the tax was repealed.

“He saved not only Viking but the entire marine industry,” said Viking Yachts’ current president and chief executive, Pat Healey, Mr. Healey’s nephew. “He was the catalyst and leader, and he wouldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer.”

Mr. Healey was born in Atlantic City in 1929. He graduated from Camden Catholic High School and attended St. Joseph’s University and the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

He practiced law in Camden County as a senior partner in the firm of Healey, Mueller and Tyler before devoting himself full time to his business with his brother.

Under the brothers’ ownership, Viking become the largest manufacturer of sport fishing yachts in the world, delivering more than 5,000 boats to date. In 2002, the brothers repurchased the Bass River Marina in New Gretna, where they had started their business decades earlier before selling the property, rechristening it as the Viking Yachting Center.

Mr. Healey was also known for his philanthropy, which included building schools in impoverished areas of Mexico, and providing housing, medical assistance, education, food and clean water to the people of war-torn Sierra Leone through the H ealey International Relief Foundation , the company said.

“My father was a good man with a deep faith and commitment to service,” said Robert Healey Jr., who is co-chairman of Viking Group, which manages Viking Yachts, Viking Investments, Viking Associates, Viking Residential and Viking Developers. “No person or mission was ever a lost cause to him. He saw the potential in everyone and believed that our true worth and value in life is in our contributions to others.”

Mr. Healey is survived by his wife, Ellen; seven children, including Robert Jr.; sixteen grandchildren; and his brother Bill. His first wife, Louise, and brothers Patrick and Edward died earlier.

A funeral Mass was held for Mr. Healey on Dec. 17. Donations can be sent to charities supported by the Robert T. Healey Sr. Charitable Trust, which include the Healey International Relief Foundation, the Healey Education Foundation , and the Gleneayre Equestrian Program .

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Robert Healey is a Founder at Healey International Relief Foundation, Chairman at Healey International Relief Foundation, and Chairman/CEO at Viking Yacht Company and is based in 573 Eayrestown Road, Lumberton, New Jersey. He attended University of Pennsylvania Law School until 1954, Camden Catholic High School until 1947, and Saint Joseph’s University until 1951.

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Things to do in Moscow for First-Timers

Updated December 14, 2017

// By Margherita

Last August, a dream came true for both myself and Nick – we visited Russia for the first time. We joined the 13-day Waterways of the Tsars cruise with Viking River Cruises, travelling from Moscow to St Petersburg (with some cool stops in between). Here’s our first post, with lots of interesting things to do in Moscow for first timers!

My Moscow Dreams

I’ve always liked to think that Moscow was my first trip ever. My father visited the (then) Soviet capital in 1986, and returned with a mini-bearskin hat and stories about that mysterious country – ‘a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma’ , as Churchill famously defined it.

My dad told me stories, and I dreamt. I dreamt the multicoloured domes of St Basil’s, the crenellated walls of the Kremlin, the metro stations – my dad described them as ‘real underground palaces, with marble and chandeliers’ – I even dreamt of visiting GUM, the legendary department store on Red Square, with luxurious stuccos and dusty, empty shelves.

Moscow fascinated me so much that I imagined I could see it from my bedroom window. Looking east, beyond the station of Milano Lambrate, I could see a dozen red, blocky apartment buildings, and imagined it was Moscow. Deep within myself I knew they weren’t Socialist high-rises, it was Milano Due, the utopic ‘city of the future’ built by Berlusconi at the dawn of the 1980s.

That is probably why when we first visited Moscow last August, the city looked familiar. Many people describe their first visit to New York as a kind of deja-vu, after having seen the city in so many movies. Moscow gave me exactly the same feeling. Because, in a way, I had already been there.

Not just through my dad’s tales and my own childhood daydreaming – but also through books. I walked alongside Dr Zhivago in the streets of post-revolutionary Moscow. I sat next to Anna Karenina as she travelled to the city. Most of all, I walked down the Arbat and flew over the roofs of the city with my namesake heroine, Margarita .

Yet, Moscow eluded us for years , until we finally landed at Sheremetyevo airport one hazy morning, after two aborted landings because of thick fog. From the very first minute, it felt familiar – yet surprised us in ways I couldn’t imagine. No book or photograph prepared us for the magnificence of the Kremlin cathedrals, for the dazzling beauty of the city at night, for the extravagance of the Metro stations.

If you follow our blog regularly, you’ll know that we rarely write about ‘must-sees’ – instead, we try to delve deeper and find unusual things to see and do in the towns we visited. However, as this was our first time in Moscow, we decided to focus on the essentials, and compiled this guide of things to do in Moscow with first timers in mind. (I’m sure we’ll be back to explore the city further)

6 Things to do in Moscow for first timers

1)red square.

Red Square is Moscow’s main landmark , and the place where – I guess – 99% of people begin their exploration of the city. Imagine my joy when we were about to cross the gates into the huge square that I had so often pictured in my mind.

I could glimpse the multicoloured domes of St Basil’s on the far side , but it wasn’t the sprawling expanse I knew – something was blocking my sight. Two huge grandstands for a forthcoming festival of military bands had been erected right in the middle of Red Square, taking up most of available space.

The rest of the square was packed with tourists, it was a very hot day, and I’m sure you can imagine my disappointment.

So, just a little piece of advice for you. If you want to see Red Square in all its sprawling magnificence , make sure there’s no event going on in the square – apparently, events happen very often. We got a couple of messages on social media from people that also found Red Square all blocked up because of concerts or other festivals.

Facing St Basil’s (or the grandstands, in our case), the right hand side of the square borders the Kremlin walls, and near there you’ll find Lenin’s Mausoleum . After having seen the embalmed corpse of Mao in Beijing and Uncle Ho in Hanoi, we were looking forward to visiting Vladimir Ilich – but sadly, we missed the opening times.

On the left hand side of the square there’s  GUM , the same department store that my dad had visited 30 years previously, finding it dusty and empty. During our visit, the afternoon light shone through the glass domed ceilings, over white marble floors and whitewashed walls.

Diners clinked glasses in cafés and the store windows were packed with luxury clothes and accessories. And of course, on the far side of the square, St Basil’s was as dazzling as ever, the five domes five different jewels over the sapphire sky.

A little curiosity for you – the ‘Red’ in Red Square has nothing to do with Communism. The word Krasnaya used to mean ‘beautiful’ in Old Russian, and got the meaning ‘red’ only in more recent times. So, Red Square is also Beautiful Square.

Red Square was a bit of a disappointment, but the Kremlin exceeded all our expectations. The word Kremlin means ‘citadel’ – myself and many others were convinced that the Kremlin would be a simple city palace, but it’s in fact a walled city within a city , with palaces, churches, gardens and two helipads so Mr Putin can get to work without needing to brave the horrid Moscow traffic.

The Kremlin feels like a place that belongs to a parallel world. Everything looks tidy and perfect. Guards in huge hats and manicured uniforms patrol the streets, whistling if you dare cross away from the zebra crossing – yet, strangely, it’s absolutely fine to climb over the Tsar Bell, the largest bell ever cast at a weight of 480 tons.

The Tsar Bell never tolled, and the Tsar Cannon standing right next to it, the largest cannon ever made, never fired a single shot. Go figure.

The most beautiful location in the Kremlin is stunning Cathedral Square , surrounded by several churches with glistening golden domes. We only had time to visit two – Cathedral of the Assumption , where the Tsars were crowned, and Cathedral of the Archangel , final place of rest of several tsars and their families.

3) Moscow Metro

The Kremlin has been the home of Russia’s rulers for centuries. During Communist times, the power was in the hands of the people (or at least, that’s what they were told). In the late 1920s, Stalin ordered the construction of a monumental underground system – a ‘Palace for the People’ , that would fulfil the need for propaganda and intra-city transportation at the same time, as Moscow grew non stop.

Nowadays, the Moscow metro is developed over 12 lines – one circular and 11 radial . An apocryphal tale states that when Stalin was shown the Metro plan, no circular line was contemplated. Stalin placed his teacup on the paper, leaving a round brown mark – naturally, the leader was praised for his brilliance, and that’s how the circular line was born. All lines are colour coded, and the circular line is brown.

The Moscow Metro is not only stunning to look at – it also works amazingly well, and it’s super cheap. It runs from 5 to 2 am, every 20 seconds in peak hour, and a single ride only costs 50 roubles and has no time limit. That means you can spend the whole day touring this stunning system of underground palaces, spending less than a euro.

Each station is decorated differently – no station signs are visible from inside the trains, so Muscovites can tell where to get off by looking at the station’s decoration. Some of the most stunning include Mayakovskaya on the Green Line, Ploshchad Revolyutsii on the Blue Line and  Komsomolskaya, Novoslobodskaya and Kiyevskaya along the Circular (Koltsevaya) line.

I had read about the Arbat so many times in books , that I couldn’t wait to visit it for myself. It is one of the oldest surviving streets of Moscow , connecting the city centre with the boulevard ring. It was once one of the main thoroughfares into town from the West, before becoming home to the nobility first, then to artists and Soviet officials.

These days, the Arbat is not Moscow’s ‘Boulevard St Germain’ anymore – most of the mansions lining it were destroyed to stop Napoleon’s advance in 1812. There are actually two Arbats in Moscow now – the Old Arbat is pedestrian , so it’s still a wonderful place for a walk and some people-watching. There are several souvenir shops but being the heart of the tourist city centre, I’d give shopping around here a miss.

Towards the end of the street there’s an Alice in Wonderland themed cafe (a slice of Tokyo in the center of Moscow?) which could be an interesting spot for a coffee. Or you could check out New Arbat , just parallel, the home of administration and bureaucracy during Soviet times.

5) Cathedral of Christ the Saviour

Even if you’re not one for churches, you’ll agree with me that the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour is a spellbinding sight , with its golden domes and white marble frame set against the sky, and the Moskva river flowing right on its side.

To make matters even better, the Cathedral has a really interesting history. It was erected in the 19th century, after the victory against the Napoleonic Army. A convent was evacuated to make room for the church, and one of the sisters – enraged after having been evicted – claimed that no building erected on that site will ever stand for more than 50 years.

The Cathedral was eventually consecrated in 1883 – and in 1931, 48 years later, it was demolished by Stalin to make room for the ‘Palace of the Soviets’, a monumental building that was going to be topped by a huge statue of Lenin. WW2 halted construction, and after Stalin’s death the construction site stood unfinished for decades – the gaping hole for the foundations was turned into the world’s largest open-air swimming pool.

The ‘current’ Cathedral of Christ the Saviour was built between 1995 and 2000. 50 kilos of gold were used for the domes. Will it last for more than 50 years? Only time will tell.

6) Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics

If like me you’re a fan of Communist architecture and iconography , you’ll be spoilt in Moscow. In the past, we visited Communist sights in Warsaw , Vilnius and Bratislava – but really, they’re nothing compared to Moscow.

From kommunalka apartment blocks to Stalin’s Seven Sisters (huge 1930s skyscrapers housing hotels, apartments, offices and universities), from the Metro to statues and plaques everywhere, Moscow has plenty of relics from the Communist period – after all, it was the capital of the Communist world.

I could spend weeks touring all sights of Communist Moscow – to be honest, we are already planning a trip back for this very reason. If you only had time to visit one Communist sight, make sure it’s the Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics . The entrance to the museum is in the base of the Monument to the Conquerors of Space , which is by far THE MOST AMAZING monument we’ve ever seen. I mean, check it out.

The museum itself makes for a very interesting visit for everyone interested in the space race. It houses the first satellite ever to be launched, the embalmed bodies of two space dogs, a full-scale reproduction of space station Mir, space suits and lots more interesting exhibits. We visited on a guided tour with Viking Cruises, which was a great idea as it was really hard to understand the function of some objects otherwise.

The Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics celebrates a time when people dared to look at the stars and dream that one day, we might actually uncover this great mystery. Sure, political implications (on either side of the wall) were behind it all, not some romantic dream – but 55 years from Gagarin’s first flight, space news are often relegated to the bottom of newspaper pages.

Perhaps we have way too many problems on this planet to worry about exploring others. Exploring the Museum, I wished that one day we’ll be able to set out and uncover the biggest mystery of all once again.

Moscow with Viking Cruises

We visited several of the sights mentioned in this list on tours run by Viking River Cruises as part of our Waterways of the Tsars cruise. The Kremlin tour, Moscow city tour (by public transport or bus – naturally we opted for the latter) and a traditional music concert were included in the tour price, but we also took additional tours to the Museum of Cosmonautics and around Moscow by night , both of which we enjoyed a lot.

Our accommodation was on the Viking Truvor , moored in Moscow’s North River terminal near   Rechnoy Vozkal station on the green line, making it possible to reach the centre in half an hour to explore the city independently. All meals are served on the boat, and transport to/from the boat is always provided during tours. Trust me, on a Viking cruise you won’t go hungry!

A great benefit of exploring Moscow with Viking were the excellent local guides , who shared their knowledge with us and gave us ideas on how to make the most of our free time in such a big, sprawling city. We spent three days in Moscow, but we are sure we will be back!

We would like to thank Viking Cruises for having welcomed us aboard the Waterways of the Tsars cruise.

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