Travel - Viajes

Vodka in the Sun: One Russian Summer

By Eric D. Goodman

Ahh, summertime in Russia. Whether you’re toasting with vodka in the fresh air of a countryside garden, relaxing with a bottle of vodka in a streetside café shadowed by the Kremlin or sipping vodka on a river cruise watching the scenery pass by, summertime in Russia is like nothing else.

Actually, less vodka is consumed in Russian summer than in Russian winter. During the winter months vodka is a necessity to keep warm, some will tell you. Beer is a better coolant for Russian summer. Dark, strong Russian beer, chilled Bulgarian wine and kvas, a carbonated drink made with fermented bread, are more common in summer. But the vodka is still there.

Of course, these are shameless generalities. The truth is, it is impossible to define Russia in one article or from one perspective, just as it is impossible to so easily define America—or more so when you consider that Russia is more than three times the size of the United States.

Condensing an eventful month in the central part of Russia to one commentary is a task comparable to the nation itself—enormous. But having been to the motherland five times in the past 10 years – sometimes living there for months and months at a time, it’s about time for this writer to take up the task.

And so, Coloquio readers, allow me to take you on an insider’s tour of Russia. In the coming issues, we will explore the highlights of summertime in central Russia. We’ll spend a little time in Moscow and its suburbs, where we’ll take in a few bottles of pivo (beer) and explore Red Square, the Kremlin and the nation’s most famous sanctuary, St. Basil’s Cathedral.

We’ll travel by car upon the Russian highway system, enduring the long and winding road from Moscow to Nizhni Novgorod.

Nizhni Novgorod (known as Gorky back in the days when St. Petersburg was Lenningrad) is the third largest city in Central Russia, behind Moscow and St. Petersburg. In many ways it is one of the few larger cities to allow visitors to experience the Russian lifestyle before it was fused with the west. In Nizhni Novgorod, we’ll explore a lesser-known kremlin, a typical Russian neighborhood and we’ll go shopping at the market. The pedestrian street is a great place to meet people. The historic villages will make a good visit, too. There will even be time for some pubs, music and roulette – and a riverside café birthday party, Russian-style.

In St. Petersburg, the nation’s most beautiful location, we’ll have a lot to see. We’ll begin our tour of the 300-year-old city on the main street that intersects it – Nevsky Prospect. Several of the country’s most beautiful churches are ready to give us refuge. We can pay our respects to Tchikovsky and Stravinsky at a Russian graveyard. And Petergof, the fountain-filled Versailles of Russia, will certainly whet an appetite for exquisiteness. Not to mention the Winter Palace, home of the world-famous Hermitage.

From St. Petersburg, we’ll set sail on a voyage to visit historical sites. But keep your shuffle board cue at home, because this won’t be the type of luxury cruise westerners are accustomed to. With Indiana Jones-spirit, we’ll venture to Svirstroi and see the old monastery along with the recovered and miraculously preserved body of an authentic Russian Orthodox Saint. Then, off to the island of Kizhi, where we’ll wander through a wooden wonderland. The island of Valaam will offer Scandinavian nature and priestly encounters.

What is a trip to Russia without a visit to the vast country? The dachas, or summer homes, in Russia are a real treat. Near the rustic cabin in a countryside neighborhood, the birch branches are fresh for cutting and taking to the banya, a sort of sauna. The berries are ripe for picking and eating. And somehow, in the fresh air, picnic table full of food, vodka, beer, chilled Bulgarian wine, and kvas tastes even better.

Better, even, than dining in Nizhni Novgorod’s Gorky Square, where the most popular restaurant is the new McDonald’s.

See you next month for a warm shot of Vodka in the Sun.