Lunch was at Nicholas Palace (Nikolayevsky Dvorets). Originally built for Nikolas I’s third son, Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich, the beautiful 3-story building is huge as far as residences go, quite small compared the other residences and palaces we’ve seen here in St. Petersburg. The palace has been repurposed several times and now is leased out to commercial ventures.
As soon as we entered the Grand Entrance Hall, a majestic marble staircase grabbed our attention. We didn’t get to go up there, but were instead ushered to our left and into the restaurant fittingly called “Grand Duke”. In the evening they feature a folk show called “Feel Yourself Russian”.
Lunch today featured beef Stroganov. I was anxious to see what an authentic version of this dish tastes like. And, of course, there was vodka and champagne.
Like yesterday, once the vodka and champagne arrived at our table and were poured, it was the perfect opportunity to offer another toast. But again, no one stood up. Oddly, it felt like the group was looking to me to say something. So I did. This time I offered a different toast: “Za schast’ye!” (For happiness). And for the second time, me, an African-American man, got to lead a toast in Russian, in Russia.
Following lunch, I went up to the gift shop by the dining room. I found a souvenir after looking around a bit. The proprietor is deaf. My wife knows American Sign Language. Turns out, so did the proprietor. They were able to have a conversation with only some of the signs used by the proprietor being different from the ones my wife is familiar with.
Exterior of Nicholas Palace photo credit: My wife
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