July 17: Tsarskoe Selo, St. Petersburg
Dear Friends and Relatives,
Woke up to a cloudy day, and this was the day we attended a lecture titled "900 Days of the Siege of Leningrad," given by Tatiana Dmitrievna, a lady in her mid-80s who talked about her experiences as a child of 9 years when the Siege first started. The lecture helped me take in the incredible deprivations and loss of life during the 900-day Siege of Leningrad, and how that event shaped history. Her account was very moving, and I was anxious to ask her if she and her family had indeed heard the performance of the Shostakovich Symphony # 7, the Leningrad Symphony, performed by the Orchestra of Leningrad in the midst of that deprivation. She and her family had indeed heard that symphony over the radio. She herself had performed in many shows of the Pioneer Clubs in Leningrad, assisting in giving hope and a little bit of laughter to comrades and friends serving on the Russian front. For her services she had been given a medal, which she proudly wore to the lecture. A very moving exchange between us and her, all translated by Olga, our guide!
From there we proceeded to board the bus to Tsarskoe Selo, the Tsar's Town. Specifically, we concentrated on Catherine's Palace, the centerpiece of the Grand Imperial Estate of Tsarskoe Selo. It was originally built in 1717 by Catherine I, Peter the Great's second wife. Later, in 1752, famed architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli enlarged and embellished the palace for Elizabeth, the daughter of Catherine and Peter. Most of the 20 or so rooms have been restored, as the estate and palace buildings were almost completely destroyed by the Germans during WW II. However, they have been carefully and expertly restored into a brilliant architectural monument. Particularly noteworthy were the White State Staircase, the Gentlemen-in-Waiting's Dining Room, the dazzling Great Hall, antechambers with some huge blue/white Dutch ovens, and the Amber Room, Rastrelli's amazing creation of a room covered with gilded woodcarvings, mirrors, and agate and jasper mosaics.
After visiting the house, we walked the Catherine Park, which extends around the ornamental Great Pond and contains a variety of interesting buildings, follies and pavilions.
Our next stop was the Podvorye Restaurant, built in the style of a traditional izba, or wooden cottage. Its cuisine is known as peasant-style, and is served family-style at long wooden tables. Opened in 1993, this restaurant has become known as "Russia's most authentic Russian restaurant." The restaurant stands for traditional Russian cuisine. We started with a small glass of vodka, with my first and initially nondescript reaction yielding to the slow burn that followed, which assured me that this was a rather powerful drink. Then followed cucumbers and tomatoes, borscht soup, cabbage leaves with a wrap of meat and sour cream, and for dessert, blinis with loganberry and ice cream. Very good! From there we had about an hour's drive to get back to the Helvetia, and on the way, Olga showed us some of the venues we will be seeing tomorrow. When we arrived at the Helvetia, I took a nap and then washed and redressed in something dressier, a top and a skirt plus heels, and met my roommate, a lady and gentleman from our group, and Ivan (a conductor friend I have previously mentioned) to walk, in a substantial rain, to a restaurant called Palkin, which has been around since 1785. During the Siege of Leningrad it became a cinema and in 2002 was restored to its former glory. It is on Nevsky Prospect, and I had a brilliant mushroom soup with truffles. Between tasting some of the dishes the others ordered and the amuse-bouches which the waiters offered us gratis for patronizing the place, I tried several new dishes and also a fabulous after-dinner liqueur. At one time, cleansing the palate with a sorbet, the waiters planted a container of dry ice in the middle of the table, and the effect of the billows cascading across the table was absolute magic! We walked home on Nevsky Prospect, lights blazing away in the shops and restaurants, grateful for the entire day's experience. By the way, we drank a nostalgic toast to Nicholas II, his wife Alexandra, daughters Olga, Tatiana, Marie, and son Alexei, as today, July 17, 2017, is the 99th anniversary of their deaths. Requiescat in pace! As ever, Sylvia V
Woke up to a cloudy day, and this was the day we attended a lecture titled "900 Days of the Siege of Leningrad," given by Tatiana Dmitrievna, a lady in her mid-80s who talked about her experiences as a child of 9 years when the Siege first started. The lecture helped me take in the incredible deprivations and loss of life during the 900-day Siege of Leningrad, and how that event shaped history. Her account was very moving, and I was anxious to ask her if she and her family had indeed heard the performance of the Shostakovich Symphony # 7, the Leningrad Symphony, performed by the Orchestra of Leningrad in the midst of that deprivation. She and her family had indeed heard that symphony over the radio. She herself had performed in many shows of the Pioneer Clubs in Leningrad, assisting in giving hope and a little bit of laughter to comrades and friends serving on the Russian front. For her services she had been given a medal, which she proudly wore to the lecture. A very moving exchange between us and her, all translated by Olga, our guide!
From there we proceeded to board the bus to Tsarskoe Selo, the Tsar's Town. Specifically, we concentrated on Catherine's Palace, the centerpiece of the Grand Imperial Estate of Tsarskoe Selo. It was originally built in 1717 by Catherine I, Peter the Great's second wife. Later, in 1752, famed architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli enlarged and embellished the palace for Elizabeth, the daughter of Catherine and Peter. Most of the 20 or so rooms have been restored, as the estate and palace buildings were almost completely destroyed by the Germans during WW II. However, they have been carefully and expertly restored into a brilliant architectural monument. Particularly noteworthy were the White State Staircase, the Gentlemen-in-Waiting's Dining Room, the dazzling Great Hall, antechambers with some huge blue/white Dutch ovens, and the Amber Room, Rastrelli's amazing creation of a room covered with gilded woodcarvings, mirrors, and agate and jasper mosaics.
After visiting the house, we walked the Catherine Park, which extends around the ornamental Great Pond and contains a variety of interesting buildings, follies and pavilions.
Our next stop was the Podvorye Restaurant, built in the style of a traditional izba, or wooden cottage. Its cuisine is known as peasant-style, and is served family-style at long wooden tables. Opened in 1993, this restaurant has become known as "Russia's most authentic Russian restaurant." The restaurant stands for traditional Russian cuisine. We started with a small glass of vodka, with my first and initially nondescript reaction yielding to the slow burn that followed, which assured me that this was a rather powerful drink. Then followed cucumbers and tomatoes, borscht soup, cabbage leaves with a wrap of meat and sour cream, and for dessert, blinis with loganberry and ice cream. Very good! From there we had about an hour's drive to get back to the Helvetia, and on the way, Olga showed us some of the venues we will be seeing tomorrow. When we arrived at the Helvetia, I took a nap and then washed and redressed in something dressier, a top and a skirt plus heels, and met my roommate, a lady and gentleman from our group, and Ivan (a conductor friend I have previously mentioned) to walk, in a substantial rain, to a restaurant called Palkin, which has been around since 1785. During the Siege of Leningrad it became a cinema and in 2002 was restored to its former glory. It is on Nevsky Prospect, and I had a brilliant mushroom soup with truffles. Between tasting some of the dishes the others ordered and the amuse-bouches which the waiters offered us gratis for patronizing the place, I tried several new dishes and also a fabulous after-dinner liqueur. At one time, cleansing the palate with a sorbet, the waiters planted a container of dry ice in the middle of the table, and the effect of the billows cascading across the table was absolute magic! We walked home on Nevsky Prospect, lights blazing away in the shops and restaurants, grateful for the entire day's experience. By the way, we drank a nostalgic toast to Nicholas II, his wife Alexandra, daughters Olga, Tatiana, Marie, and son Alexei, as today, July 17, 2017, is the 99th anniversary of their deaths. Requiescat in pace! As ever, Sylvia V
I hope you took some good pics of Catherine's gardens!
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