August 1—Summer Orphanage and Golden Beach

Today we drove north and east along the Gulf of Finland to Zelenogorsk to the summer orphanage used by the orphans the live in Orphanage #6. As we left the city we began to see individual houses which were summer residences. It was nice to see the countryside after several days in the city. After about a two hour ride, we turned off the highway and into a wooded area. We stopped at a collection of houses behind a gate.  We climbed out of the bus and followed Natasha, our guide through the gate. We were told to “wait here”, a phrase we are becoming very accustomed to, as she disappeared around the corner of one of the buildings.

She returned with a woman she identified as the doctor the served the orphanage. The doctor remembered Alex, the other child with our party, from the 15 months he spent in orphanage #6.  She led us through the nearest house which was a house for infants. We quietly walked through a darkened room where 6 infants who looked approximately 4-6 months old were sleeping in individual cribs. We were told there were approximately 75 children living at the orphanage all 5 years old and younger. They are cared from by 20-30 adults. The orphans stay at the summer residence for June, July and August. The houses were built when the area was a part of Finland. The houses we saw had a good sized covered porch area painted in bright colors with toy bears and dolls tied on the porch supports. The porches held several playpens. After a discussion between Alex’s mother and the doctor and pictures of Alex with the doctor, we left the orphanage.

The Gulf of Finland was a short walk down the road. Natasha was surprised at how warm the water was. The Schaeffers and Alex immediately rolled up pant legs and took off shoes to wade in the gulf. The shore was rocky and beautiful. Though rain had been forecast, the day was sunny and pleasantly warm. After a little encouragement from Alan, Joyce decided to join the waders. She likes to get her feet wet in the various bodies of water during our travels. She wasn’t sure she could navigate the rocky part of the shore, but Jon offered a hand for support and she made it. The rocks were just along the water line and soon she was walking on soft rippled sand. The gulf is very shallow for quite a ways.  

After a few minutes watching and picking up rocks and stones, Natasha took off her shoes and joined the waders. This was a pleasant surprise for us. Natasha is very kind, but reserved so it was good to see her smile and look like she was enjoying herself. She told Sandi it had been three years since she had left the city of St. Petersburg and this time on the beach was a treat.

After leaving the beach, we went to lunch. We stopped at a lovely place along the gulf with a large outdoor seating area right on the beach. Between the outdoor seating and the water were sand dunes with grasses and shrubs. There was also a play area with a bouncy house which was popular with the kids. The restaurant did not have English menus, so Natasha had to translate when is difficult with a menu. We all worked together and food was ordered. Most of our group walked on the beach while we were waiting for food. Alan, Joyce and Natasha sat in the covered seating area and enjoyed the view. When the food arrived, it was very tasty. Joyce enjoyed a shrimp Caesar salad and Alan joined Jon and Sandi is a multi person grilled meat and vegetable platter. The platter contained lamb, pork and beef with grilled yellow peppers, tomatoes and eggplant. Sydney enjoyed grilled salmon served on a kabob stick. We all enjoyed a different kind of bread that was particularly delicious. It was round, about dinner plate size with a punched circular design in the center. Natasha told us the name, which of course I can’t remember or pronounce. Its origin is Armenian.

As we finished our lunch, we could see rain coming across the gulf. By the time we were in the bus, it was sprinkling and we drove through rain most of the way back to Saint Peterburg. When we got back Alan, Joyce and Sandi decided to visit St. Isaacs’s cathedral with is a block from our hotel. We have walked by and admired it several times, but hadn’t visited the inside. We walked over in the rain, only to find that is was closed on Wednesdays. We met a young woman who grew up in Russia but now lives in France when told us it was closed. She said her English was limited. She has a young son, approximately 4 or 5 years old that smiled at us and repeated the words we said and would then grin at us.

Since we had a big lunch, we decided to just have dessert in the evening. We went back to The Baron Restaurant in the hotel for ice cream in an almond bowl, hazel nut cake, cheese cake and apple strudel.