Page:The tourist's Russia by Wood, Ruth Kedzie.djvu/21

Rh her position as the Birthplace of the Church. Riga and Odessa, the great grain ports of the north and south, are more continental in temper and structure, for in Riga it is the Teutonic Russian, and in Odessa the Italian, Greek and Jewish element which prevails. St. Petersburg, made in the image of Europe, is an extraordinarily prosperous centre. It has Galleries, Institutes, and Museums equal to those of other capitals, and a long list of tourist attractions.

Those who are ambitious for Russia industrially, exult in her prodigious awakening. For the tourist, her advance assures even more widespread transportation facilities, and better provincial hotels. The railways and steamers of Russia are not only luxurious, but the least expensive in Europe, or out of it. The service and cuisine of the hotels in her chief cities cannot be excelled.

However, as the tourist seeks in each country its individual lure, and sighs to find ideals retreating before brisk modernity, so will he rejoice that the true Russia still exists unspoiled. And he will not grumble because the way to reach it has been smoothed by civilisation. Paradoxically, the true Russia exists in the midst of the most pronounced European encroachments, as well as in far-away provinces. For, despite outer