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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Lifestyle
Natasha May

The kindness of strangers: we thought we’d been poisoned at Tolstoy’s house. Then a local explained what we had really drunk

Leo Tolstoy
We tried to communicate the problem to our waitress.’ Photo features Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy with his family at Yasnaya Polyana circa 1908.
‘We tried to communicate the problem to our waitress.’ Photo features Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy with his family at Yasnaya Polyana circa 1908. Composite: Getty Images/Alamy

In July 2019 I travelled to Russia with my sister and a friend. As three bookish girls, our highlight would be a pilgrimage to Yasnaya Polyana, Leo Tolstoy’s country house.

The trip was already punctuated with comical mistakes and miscommunications. We couldn’t speak Russian, and it was our first experience in a country where no locals come to your aid to translate.

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