So yesterday I spent the day at Tolstoy's Estate, which I cannot spell so I won't even try. It translates to "clearing in the forest" or something. It was a 3 hour train ride from Moscow (a nicer train than the commuter train, aka we got to sit down the whole time). It was incredibly beautiful and large, with extensive forests and fields, ponds, a river, a garden and a greenhouse, stables for the horses, and of course Tolstoy's house along with a guest house and his grandfather's house. It was a grey, drizzling day but the rain subsided a bit for us. The leaves were just beginning to change from green to orange and yellow, and horse driven carriages gave people rides. Also, there were TONS of people being married there, so you'd walk around and all the sudden see a bride holding her dress up so it didn't get muddy (a fruitless activity- it was incredibly muddy). We saw the room where he wrote War and Peace, we saw the couch where his wife gave birth to most of his 13 children, and other things like that. We walked through a field to see the river and took a detour through the woods. It was absolutely gorgeous, I can see why he preferred it there. We saw his grave, which was just a green mound sloping up from the ground, very understated (especially compared to Lenin's).
Anyways, I'm currently writing from the kitchen at my home, apparently we have an antennae I can use to connect to the internet. It's a little disconcerting, though, because as I write my host mom is cooking eggs and listening to Alla Pugachova on the radio, turning occasionally and asking me how everything is at home.
Anyways, soon I'll be able to post pictures for you, so just hang in there.
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