Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Yusupov Palace

Day 7

"I am to be killed," Rasputin said to the Czar and his court. "If I am killed by my own people, by the peasants, then you will continue to rule in peace and harmony. However, if I am killed by the noble class, then within two years, you and your children and all the royal family will be no more."

And so a group of us, armed with our Power shots, money belts, and traveler tenacity stormed the Yusupov palace to admire the lavish interiors where Rasputin was poisoned, shot, beaten, and wrapped in a sheet to be thrown into the icy river.

The palace was wonder to behold, even apart from its macabre history. First we had to slip black booties over our wet shoes and then put down a deposit to obtain audio guides. I was thrilled when the voice I heard was a jovial British chap who seemed like he would hand out small gifts to orphans at Christmas and who described every room with superfluous adjectives such as plush, opulent, and sumptuous. The three sitting rooms on the second floor were magnificently monochromatic. The blue one had a wonderful calming affect. The green one was nice, though a little nauseated looking. But the red room...someday...

Then, after stopping by the local market, we ran to the hostel to collect our things for the sauna. Unfortunately, unlike the girl with the hearing aids and impaired vision, I didn't have a valid excuse for not going. Plus, Hannah had been espousing the wonders of authentic saunas for ages and probably would have dragged me there by my pigtails if I had showed any real signs of resistance.

We arrived and an overly wise looking woman led us to where we would be "relaxing" for the next two hours. I was handed a white sheet which I looked at dismally. Oh geez. Eventually peer pressure kicked in and I joined the rest of my companions in the sultry steam room. After a week of being beaten by wind and icy rain, of moments rimmed with confusion and panic, it was absolutely perfect. Once we were all sequined with sweat we went into the adjoining room where we jumped into a huge stone tub filled with refreshingly cool water. It was like being in a Roman bathhouse where the restfulness and camaraderie were amazing.

When I left with a small group of girls, we were all so relaxed that nothing short of one of us getting hit by a bus could dampen the mood. And even then...We swayed into an English bookstore and spent a good hour perusing. I was so happy (in mellow kind of way) to find Twilight for which I had been scouring several countries. After that we waltzed into an Italian restaurant (not my decision, I promise) and enjoyed plentiful, almost non-European portions of pasta. Then we went to McDonald's for ice cream where Natalie and I worked together to accurately assess the number of mullets. By the time we left the count was at fifteen. Scandalous.

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