Tsarskoe Selo

                Today consisted entirely of a visit to Tsarskoe Selo. I learned last night that not everyone actually knows what that is, and there really isn’t a translation, so I’ll explain it. Tsarskoe Selo is the location of Catherine the Great’s summer palace, and is where subsequent monarchs tended to spend their summers, alternating between this location and the Winter Palace, in downtown St. Petersburg. I’m just going to say right now that there is no possible way of comprehending the sheer enormity of this palace without seeing it. It’s gigantic, and so ridiculously ostentatious. To be fair, not all credit (or blame?) goes to Catherine- she apparently built the original, and her daughter Elizabeth made it seven times larger, expanding it to the current size. Basically, you could fit my high school inside of it. About five times. I would give a similar estimate for New Cabell. Though I am unaware as to how it compares with a football field, I’m sure it’s larger than one. One’s first impression after the sheer size of the palace is the abundance of gold. Everything (really, everything) is covered in gilded gold – the gates, the windows, the doors, the mirrors, the stair cases, and the walls.

                This palace was actually burned by the Nazis during World War II, and reconstructed afterward by Stalin. I sometimes question the need of restoring it. Though it is certainly a national Russian treasure, it’s actually a little gaudy, and demonstrates that Stalin was not even trying to live up to socialist ideals at this point. It might be allowable to a socialist idealist to leave it standing, but to actually rebuild it is insane. Also, according to the (generally very accurate) historical knowledge of Virginia, Stalin rebuilt it by gathering up orphans with artistic talent, training them, and using them as slave labor. I realize that the place was originally built by serfs, but did Stalin really have to do it too? This man leaves a very poor track record.

                Anyway, the most notable part of the Summer Palace is, of course, the famous Amber Room. It’s obviously reconstructed, but still ridiculously beautiful. All of the shades of amber blend so well, and its simply breathtaking. One is not allowed to take pictures within it, but I got away with taking pictures just outside of both the entrance and the exit to this room. See facebook for perusal.

                Afterward the quick tour of a few rooms of the Summer Palace out of thousands, we went to wander around the gardens (beautiful, but terribly artificial – I love the idea of freely growing wild flowers), before touring Pushkin’s childhood home, and then driving back to downtown Petersburg. Having seen this residence, I really wonder what would possess anyone to build it. Can you imagine living there? Surrounded constantly by gold, glass, porcelain, and paintings – your surroundings would be constantly breakable, and therefore somewhat uncomfortable. I get somewhat overwhelmed when I even have two stories to care for – imagine owning thousands of rooms. Other than the initial impression of shock, I’m unsure I can have much delight in this gilded palace of excess.