Catherine had One Too July 29, 2006

Today was our last day in Russia and we spent it visiting the other “official” Summer Palace located in the town that is now called Pushkin. This was a palace started by Catherine I (Peter the Great’s wife) on land that Peter gave her, I assume because she was tired of Peter having all the fun planning and developing cities, palaces, navies etc. The palace was finished by Catherine’s daughter Elizabeth Petrovona and “redecorated” by Catherine the Great.

The palace is considerably larger than the one we visited in Peterhof yesterday but is not as richly decorated and the grounds are not as elaborate although this is not to say that anyone reading this has a house that is furnished as lavishly as this one. The royal family would spend approximately two months a year in this palace, rotating between the Winter Palace in St. Pete, for nine months, Peterhof, for one month, and here in Pushkin for two months. Another interesting tidbit is that most of the furniture was moved every time they moved. This may seem a bit excessive, but there is a logical reason for the action. The summer palaces were not heated during the winter and furniture left there would be in jeopardy as the temperature and humidity changed dramatically within the palaces.

You may, as I was, be asking yourself about now; “why did they need two summer palaces”. I blurted this out to the Julia, who looked at me with that “you poor uneducated American” look that I am starting to get used to and said “the other summer palace is for special occasions”. I felt a little foolish at not having thought of this simple and straight forward answer myself. By the time we have made our way through Europe I hope to know enough about this monarchy stuff to apply for a job as a stable boy. Does anyone know if you have to be born into these jobs?

After the palace tour we stopped for lunch at a countryside restaurant that served very good food. Julia told us that this was the first privately owned restaurant to open after the 1917 revolution. We had one bowl of borscht, one salad and Holly and I split a stroganoff and although it was great at US$37 this lunch was a little rich for my taste. By the way no alcohol was served at the meal.

We made a quick stop at the post office when we returned to St. Pete and then were dropped off by Julia and George on a street corner when we asked if we could stop at a pharmacy. Maybe we have overstayed our welcome. We did recognize the neighborhood and after making our purchases (this included hand gestures, grunts and much pointing) we walked the fifteen minutes back to the hotel.

We have a 7:30 train in the morning so we are getting packed and organized for our small two person caravan to move on around 6AM.


A few thoughts about Russia:
A huge diverse and beautiful country Russia is like a lot of countries. Rural people tend to be friendlier and more laid back than people in the cities, but having said that we met few openly friendly people here. They seem to be guarded or so busy surviving, that visitors just may not be on their agenda. The economy is doing better than it was ten years ago but most of the people here live a Spartan existence. Overall in the faces of the majority of people we saw on the street day to day, there was a sadness that seemed to come from deep inside. The look was not of desperation it was more one of no hope.

(I would recommend a visit to Russia by anyone interested in the history of the nation, the culture or the architecture. It contains a wealth of these. You can expect to spend a lot of money, a lot of time in long queues and a lot of time around flamboyant and gregarious Italians, who at tourist attractions easily outnumber all other nationalities combined. You must leave your expectations behind and experience what Russia has to offer on its terms, you will not be disappointed. – Holly)