The diary of a Russian lady

My father, Prince Theodore Galitzine, married my mother being a widower with five children, three of whom died before my birth. My earliest vivid recollections begin when I was...

When I was fifteen, mamma decided to take me abroad to be “finished.” Stuttgart was chosen for our winter residence; we were to get there towards the end of October, after havin...

I was to be taken out in St. Petersburg for my first season, and presented at Court. How my heart palpitated at the idea of my first dance! I made my appearance in public in Kha...

In order to recover entirely from the effects of my illness, the physicians sent me to Biarritz. I was taken abroad by mamma. Towards the latter end of July, travelling from Ber...

I had again my heart’s desire. I was invited by my aunt, Swetchine, mamma’s sister, to spend the winter with her in St. Petersburg; I was in the seventh heaven of delight, nothi...

During the summer manœuvres a squadron was quartered in our village. The chief, a provincial “lady killer,” with a face upon which high-thinking had never been expressed, was th...

My thoughts flew back constantly to St. Petersburg. Being a girl who had already tasted city life, it did not please me in the least to bury myself in the country, and I longed...

A totally unexpected stroke of luck was in store for me. My aunt, Zoe Zaroudny, who was going to spend a month in the Crimea with her two little daughters, offered to take me wi...

To my great delight mamma decided to pass the winter in St. Petersburg. I was enchanted to meet my pages again. We contrived to encounter everywhere. One evening I went to the c...

We went to Tiflis towards the middle of May. On the way I made the acquaintance of two cadets of the _corps des pages_, grandsons of the Shah of Persia. The youngest prince, Rou...

I longed for the winter to be over; the days passed slowly, very slowly. I was in very low spirits and wanted Sergy most awfully, my one desire was to see him; I thought of him...

The carriage road that leads from Vladicaucasus to Tiflis is equally dangerous in winter as in summer, for instead of snow avalanches there are falls of stones. I shuddered when...

We installed ourselves at Alexandropol in the house of a rich Armenian merchant. It was a dreary home, my new one, with its cross-barred windows, and suggested to my mind being...

There were new complications and things began to look more and more serious. Every day when I awoke a fear came over me that the news would be brought: “we are to march.”

A new post was offered to my husband. He had recently been nominated President of the Commission of Demarcation, and was obliged to start for Erzeroum, the capital of Anatolia....

At seven o’clock in the morning General Kousminski was at my door, and I started bravely for Erzeroum, full of happy hopes and expectations. A crowd of Turks gathered round our...

It is all cheery, home-like and delightful out here after my lonely life in Alexandropol and Kars. I began to take an interest in all my surroundings once more. When I waked up...

We have put up at the Grand Hôtel where we feel very comfortable. This winter I mean to lead a quiet, homely life, being wonderfully changed after my marriage. Out of a frivolou...

We arrived at Moscow in the beginning of May, and settled down for the summer months in a wing of the Petrovski Palace, situated in a beautiful park two miles out, to wait for o...

An event occurred which overwhelmed me with joy. My husband was quite unexpectedly sent to Italy to be present at the Grandes Manœuvres at Milan. What a splendid surprise it was...

Here we are at Boulogne, comfortably settled at the Hôtel du Pavilion Impérial. From the window I can see the broad Atlantic and the sea-shore which is so extensive that in 1855...

When the train drew up at Charing Cross platform, we hastened to collect our belongings for there was nobody to help us down with our luggage, and we had to find our way alone t...

When our train stopped at the Gare St. Lazarre, we got a fiacre and drove to the Hôtel de la Paix, a large, ponderous edifice, one of the most stylish hotels in Paris. I waited...

We started on our tour through Switzerland and went full speed in an express train to Lucerne. The scenery around us was lovely. Passing through the province “La Champagne,” so...

Here are the Alps towering in all their glory, their immense contours sharp and clear. A few minutes more and our train stops at Lucerne. We were warned that the principal hotel...

Close to Interlaken we took the train for about ten minutes. Interlaken is situated in a narrow pass encircled by a range of sparkling white mountains, behind which rises the ma...

On the next afternoon we started for Montreux intending to remain there about three days. We put up at the Hôtel du Cygne. Our windows opened on Lake Leman bordered by high snow...

We put up at the “Hôtel des Bergues.” From the great bay windows of our sitting-room we could see far out over Lake Leman and the distant chain of mountains cut sharply against...

We have a vast and splendid apartment at the Hôtel de la Ville with a lovely ceiling, mostly angels and smiling cherubs floating about in the clouds, and a floor paved with marb...

On the following day we started for Cernobbio to spend a week at the Villa d’Este. Our apartment was large and airy; the marble floor and white-washed walls looked agreeably coo...

Frau Weidemann, a comely, grey-haired woman, in a frilled cap and white apron, came out to receive us and wish us welcome. She had taken us for a honeymoon couple, and thought t...

On the following day we took the Venice express at nine o’clock in the morning. Two Belgian members of the foreign missions travelled to Venice with us. Colonel Theuniss and Maj...

Leaving Venice at ten o’clock in the morning, we arrived towards night at Florence, and took an apartment at the Hotel de Russie, with a ceiling ornamented with flying nymphs in...

We spent a week in visiting the city of the Cæsars, running through churches, art-galleries and other regulation sights, according to Baedecker, from morning till night. We foll...

When we arrived at Naples a whole legion of porters assailed us. We took an apartment at the Grand Hôtel, situated on the New Quay. We had a disagreeable surprise when we awoke...

Once back in Moscow, we resumed our usual mode of life. My husband is working very hard, and I see him only during our meals. Our doctor finds repose and change of air necessary...

We arrived at Manheim at three o’clock in the morning and drove to the “Deutscher Hof.” The entrance door was locked, and our driver had to ring vigorously several times before...

We arrived towards night at Rotterdam, one of the most considerable sea-ports in Holland. How helpless we felt in this strange country! We had the greatest difficulty to make ou...

We put up at Charing-Cross Hotel. After a good wash and brush-up, we went to find out the Rydes, my old Stuttgart friends who had settled in London for some years. I did not hea...

We are home at last! No more horrid hotels, no more travelling! We remained a few days in town and removed to the camp on the Khodinka Field, where a large barrack, consisting o...

I left Moscow on the 10th of September and arrived at Brest on the following day. It was the first time in my life that I travelled alone, and it frightened me somewhat. I never...

We took seats in the omnibus belonging to the Hôtel de Paris, drawn by three richly harnessed grey mules with half-shaven tails like poodles. After lunch we went out for a strol...

appearance very unattractive. Sergy proposed to go and spend the rest of the evening in a Music Hall where painted women were sitting in a circle, singing and shrieking in orien...

There happened to be a local feast of the “Madonna del Pilar,” the patroness of the town, just now, and every hotel was crammed to the roof. The trains were bringing constantly...

The following morning we took the train back to France, and shared our compartment with a pretty young woman from Seville and her two children, a fat-cheeked baby, who filled ou...

We only remained ten days at Nice, for we were at the end of October, the season of gusty winds and showers. The weather was abominable, and we had to remain indoors all day. So...

Mary Vietinghoff, my old Stuttgart friend, who had married a Frenchman, Count Soligoux de Fougères, was in Paris for the moment. She used to be a dear girl, and so fond of me! W...

On returning to Moscow we found among our numerous correspondence a number of the Parisian paper _L’Evenement_, sent to us by the Rothvillers, with my biography and expressions...

Thanks to the Exhibition in Copenhagen, all the hotels and boarding-houses were full, and it was with great difficulty that we succeeded in finding a shelter in a private house....

Every morning I went out for a ride with Sergy and had a gallop round the Park on my beautiful horse named “Sailor,” black as jet, with a coat shining like satin, which Sergy ha...

Towards the end of June we went to Paris to see the World’s Fair. We put up as usual at the Hôtel de Calais, a pleasant, quiet house. After having washed off the dust of our jou...

We had to leave Paris for the sea-shore and proceeded to Dieppe, where we took a room in a private house, intending to remain there a fortnight at least, but after our first bat...

Many renowned artistes visited our old capital this winter, among them Tamagno, the celebrated tenor, whose fame was just then ringing all the world over. After a concert-tour i...

The microbe of globetrotting having entered us, my husband took a month’s leave and at the end of September we started on a trip to the East. I was so pleased I could kiss the w...

Towards midday, when we entered the “Golden Horn,” we were plentifully rewarded for our bad passage by the enchanting view of the bay, the harbour of Constantinople being one of...

We waited for daybreak to enter the narrow port of Piræus. The Russian military agent, Baron Traubenberg, came to meet us in a launch belonging to a Russian man-of-war, in which...

Here we are on the threshold of the Great Desert! As soon as the “Tzar” dropped anchor, stopping alongside a Russian cruiser, the “Nakhimoff,” our vessel was invaded by a crowd...

Next morning, supplied with tickets from Cook’s agency, we sailed for Italy on the “Amphitrite,” a splendid steamer belonging to the Austrian Lloyd Company, a veritable floating...

There was much talk about my husband’s appointment to the post of Governor-General of the district of the Amour, including the provinces along the valley of the Amour river and...

Paris was out of season and looked rather bare. We made a turn in the Bois de Boulogne, which proved a desert. We only met a middle-class wedding-party taking their traditional...

Towards midnight the American coast showed itself to view. In the distance appeared a great multitude of twinkling lights. Our ship fired rockets and burnt Bengal fires. Alike i...

The way is long from New York to San Francisco. We have to pass the Continent from East to West, making about 5000 miles. It took thirty-five days to make that journey before th...

Towards five o’clock Michigan Lake came into view and spread before us as broad as the sea, with tides coming in and going out, and steamships gliding on the blue water. At the...

We were surrounded at the railway station by a crowd of Negroes, Japs and Chinamen. We drove to the Lyndhurst, a small hotel in Geary Street, where Mr. Shaniavski had secured ap...

On the eve of our departure from San Francisco we went to inspect our cabins on the mail-ship, _Peru_, on which we are to cross the Pacific. We are undertaking a long and danger...

Towards eight o’clock in the morning we saw a dark outline on the horizon, and made such a fuss over the first lump of sand, as if we were discovering the North Pole. The Island...

On arriving at Tokio we drove in a splendid landau sent to meet us by the Japanese minister of Foreign Affairs, to the Oriental Hotel, where we took an apartment of several room...

The train ran into a station illuminated by electricity; it was Kobe at last! The Russian Consul’s interpreter came to meet us at the railway station, but we didn’t hear the wor...

August 6th.—After coffee, we drove to the pier where a steam-launch, with an officer and ten sailors sent by the “Mandchour,” carried us off to the ship. We were received by the...

August 10th.—Towards five o’clock in the morning our vessel glided into the verdure-framed harbour of Nagasaki, a dream of loveliness. High on the three sides rose steep green h...

August 13th.—We were anchored in the bay the whole night waiting for the break of day, and left Nagasaki at six in the morning. The day is very fine. I lay comfortably stretched...

August 17th.—To-day is our last day on board. We pass before the bays of Ulysses, Diomedes, Patrocles, and Ajax. Sergy came to wake me at dawn; the coasts of Siberia were in sig...

A great number of officers accompanied us as far as the boat on the Soungatcha river. We had a brilliant leave-taking. I received so many bouquets that I almost disappeared amon...

We approach Khabarovsk, which, like ancient Rome, is built on seven slopes divided by deep ravines. Each slope has its own principal street, cut by transversal lanes which desce...

August 24th.—The day for leaving Khabarovsk came at last. We started this afternoon for the Land of Desire, to St. Petersburg, darling place. Colonel Serebriakoff, his wife and...

This morning we took our passage on the _Khabarovsk_, a steamer of the volunteer fleet specially built for the voyages of the Governor-General of the Amour provinces. We go stra...

If Ireland is called “Erin,” (Green Island), this name would suit Japan still better. After the bare coasts of Siberia and Corea, the eye rests with delight on the beautiful ver...

September 24th.—We cross the treacherous Japanese Sea, on which the monsoons, disagreeable north-east winds, are raging in this season. We went on deck for a breath of fresh air...

After having said a hearty farewell to our captain and his officers, we mounted a canoe steered with one oar, and went ashore. Mr. Redding, our Consul, was on the quay to meet u...

October 3rd.—At dawn the island of Hong-Kong appeared to view. We slipped into the horse-shoe harbour of Victoria Town, the most beautiful and picturesque place I have ever seen...

The smell of earth reached us already, as well as the perfume of amber and tropical flowers. We are in Cochin-China, in fairy-like decorations. I thought myself in dreamland and...

Our captain had sent a boat ashore to warn the authorities of our arrival. We were afraid we should be in quarantine owing to the plague raging at the time in India. We had to u...

October 16th.—We see an island on our right. It is Java, the Garden of the East, one of the most splendid spots in the world, to which nature has been prodigal with beauties and...

October 25th.—At dawn we approached Singapore. We put up at the Hôtel d’Europe. After tiffin, we visited the cisterns which supply the inhabitants with potable water. There are...

Towards night we arrived at Colombo and moored two miles off the low coast, bordered with cocoa-nut trees crowned with green palms. A long greystone breakwater with a round-topp...

November 7th.—At the first break of day we reached the sun-baked city of Aden, a British possession on the southern coast of Arabia, lying on the Red Sea trade route between Eur...

The heroic statue of Ferdinand de Lesseps, who has given to the world the Suez Canal, standing for ever at the gateway he opened to the East, was plainly visible before we caugh...

November 12th.—We reached the end of the Suez Canal about eight o’clock in the morning, and caught the first glimpse of land, a narrow stretch of reddish desert land beyond Port...

November 11th.—The crossing from Suez to Marseilles does not take more than three or four days. The weather grew perceptibly colder. We entered the Mediterranean in the afternoo...

November 15th.—In the middle of the night the stopping of the screw woke me. The white cliffs of France had come to sight at last. I heaved a sign of relief when the _Océanien_...

We put up for the night at the Hôtel de Paris, where the prices are exorbitant. We had dinner at a small hotel which boasted of a table d’hôte at 2 francs 25 centimes per head....

November 17th.—We started with the first train for Nice, where we stopped at the Hôtel Julien, hidden among lemon trees. Directly after lunch I went out for a walk. Whilst I sto...

November 19th.—We arrived at Paris in the afternoon and stopped as usual at the Hôtel de Calais. It was very cold in our apartment and we had a fire all day.

A few days after our arrival, my husband presented to the Emperor a deputation composed of representatives of different tribes inhabiting Oriental Siberia, who offered to His Ma...

We left St. Petersburg on the 17th June, and are on our way for a second tour around the world. This time we sail from Odessa on the _Orel_ a boat belonging to the Volunteer Fle...

June 26th.—At dawn the African coast, scorched by the sun, came into view. We enter the port and stop opposite the Russian Consulate. Our boat will enter the Suez Canal only at...

At eleven o’clock we entered the port of Suez. On the African coast rises the chain of the Dakhi Mountains; opposite, on the Arabian coast, we see the high peak of Mount Sinai,...

July 2nd.—Early in the morning we came in view of Aden. Our boat sets off at six o’clock in the evening, and we had plenty of time to visit the town. We landed at Steamer Point...

July 8th.—We enter the harbour of Colombo and moor pretty far away from the coast, to the great disappointment of the recruits. Scores of sampans with Singhalese rowers came to...

July 16th.—We arrived at Singapore this morning and put up at the Hôtel d’Europe. Before dinner we went for a drive out of town, passing through a Malay village perched on piles...

July 18th.—To-day we returned to our ship. A Portuguese cruiser, which had just arrived at Singapore, has sent out one of her officers to salute my husband on board. I sat on de...

July 26th.—This morning at ten o’clock we arrived at Nagasaki, and anchored alongside the _Voronege_, a Russian boat, bringing back to Russia a thousand soldiers. These men, who...

July 31st.—Towards midday the harbour of Vladivostock came to view. We have reached the end of our long voyage. I am so happy to get away from the _Orel_ where we have been coop...

Our life went on much as usual. I have just come back, and the longing for St. Petersburg overcame me already. The weather is horrid. The rain beats against the window-panes. Pr...

It’s such great news that Sergy was bringing to me! He has received a leave of eight months. We are going to spend the winter at St. Petersburg and make a trip abroad in the sum...

December 20th.—We arrived at Vladivostock in the morning, and were met on the platform by all the military and civil authorities of the town. We embark to-morrow on the _Khabaro...

It is very calm to-day. We are going full speed, making about 16 knots an hour. At eight o’clock in the morning we perceived a vague shadow without outlines—it is land! We soon...

We weighed anchor early in the morning, and soon entered the harbour of Shanghai. A little steamer, belonging to the Russian-Chinese Bank, came to take us on land, and moored op...

January 6th.—In the afternoon we entered the calm harbour of Hong-Kong, and moored at New Harbour, where the boats come in to take coal. When we stepped on shore, chocolate-colo...

From afar appeared the numerous pagodas of Canton, with their domes adorned with little gold bells. Our boat nosed her way into the crowded river, traversed by a perpetual scurr...

January 11th.—This morning we took our passage to Macao on an English steamer named _The White Cloud_. I turned my back to Canton with great pleasure. I think China is a frightf...

January 17th.—The weather is very bad, the rain is falling in torrents. This morning a boy brought me, instead of tea, a tepid undrinkable potion as black as ink. When I told hi...

At four o’clock we are at Saigon. We put up at the Hôtel Continental, the top flat of which is occupied by the “Cercle Colonial.” We dined at table d’hôte. The dining-room was t...

January 24th.—It was night when the _Salasie_ came in sight of Singapore. We are going to stop here about a fortnight, waiting for the _Laos_, a French boat, bound to Colombo an...

February 9th.—To-day we take our passage on the _Laos_. A Prussian officer, with an unpronounceable name, who was stopping with us at the hotel, came on board to see us off. He...

We were obliged to take leave of our pleasant steamer friends at Suez. I was very sorry to part with the Crémazy, who hoped we might meet again and promised to write to me from...

February 24th.—We started for Cairo with the first train, and followed for a long time the Suez Canal. We are rolling now by the side of the Nile. The passengers, their faces at...

February 29th.—I kept my bed the whole day. It is Carnival-time and the streets are full of laughing crowds dressed in fantastic costumes, who showered confetti on each other. I...

We are back from our exile; home in Russia! At last our wanderings have come to an end. We have crossed the globe almost in all directions by land and sea, but I know of no plac...

May 26.—We started for Tashkend to-day. I will return to St. Petersburg in September to confer about the publishing of my “Memories,” which I issue for the benefit of the gymnas...

At ten o’clock in the morning the train stopped at Tashkend station, where we met a royal reception. A great crowd was on the platform and all around the station. The courtyard...

August 18th.—It was pouring with rain this morning when we arrived at St. Petersburg. My mother was at the station to meet me, and took me to the new house my husband had bought...

August 10th.—To-day I started for St. Petersburg, where I am going to spend two months. There were many people to see me off. The Grand Duke was at the station. He handed me a b...

My husband’s health had failed a good deal of late, and the doctors have ordered him an absolute change and rest. Sergy was overworked and a good holiday will set him right. He...

Every day in Paris was too short for me, and I left the Great Babylon with immense regret. Sergy went to Kissingen to begin his cure, and I returned to St. Petersburg to publish...

Meanwhile I had a very tedious time at St. Petersburg, where I was to remain until autumn. It is odd that Sergy had not written to me for quite ten days. I was tortured by the f...

I counted the last hours of my stay at Tashkend. At last the happy day of our departure arrived. Swarms of people came to see us start and wish a happy journey and a safe and sp...