Do you have as much trouble with Russian names in those Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky novels as I do? If so, you’ll understand why, when I was busy shooting a zillion pictures (not thinking about how much time it would take to categorize and PhotoShop them) that I became completely disoriented about what was Puskin and what was Tsarskoe Selo (one in the same….the village’s name was changed to Pushkin by the Communists since the other meant something like Tsar’s Village or Tsar’s High Ground).

Caps for sale in the stalls set up just outside the gates of Catherine Palace

Caps for sale in the stalls set up just outside the gates of Catherine Palace

Then, I remain baffled by Pavlovsk Palace versus Alexander Palace, although I do know that Nicholas and Alexandra and their children were imprisoned in Alexander Palace. It is still being renovated after some hard times as a Soviet orphanage, headquarters of the Soviet Navy and occupation by the Germans but maybe it’s connected to Pavlovsk? Alexander Palace is by far the most personal of the Imperial palaces (If you’re not Russian, do you have to capitalize “Imperial”?).

Furnishings are modest and the spirit of the

Yes, they are still selling and making these classic dolls, the Matryoshka.

Yes, they are still selling and making these classic dolls, the Matryoshka.

tragedy that befell the last of the Romanovs lingers in the air like a cautionary tale.

So these are the images of modern-day Russian commerce: the stalls of traditional Russian tchotkes, the restaurant that our tour guide assured us was “Putin’s favorite in Pushkin.” I’m assuming Putin prefers it because of all the foreign exchange the establishment brings in.

The rural village of Pushkin reminds one of many similar places in Europe, with the addition, of course,  of the over-the-top palaces. Driving to Pushkin on a bright September day is not so very different from driving to the outskirts of Frankfurt or Vienna. There are neat little houses ringed with vegetable gardens of cabbages and potatoes and apple trees. Flowers dot the small parks along the way.

Capitalism is the order of the day. Whether it’s amber, nesting dolls or brand-new, cheaply-built apartments…or simply tips for singing melancholy Russian love songs, everyone is in it for the ruble.

And maybe, that’s a good thing.