One of the most expensive and exquisite rooms in the world once existed in the Catherine Palace of Tsarskoye Selo near the city of Saint Petersburg. It was dubbed the Amber Room because of the beautiful amber panels on the walls, which were adorned with mirrors and gold leaf.
When the Nazis invaded Russia in World War II, they dismantled the Amber Room and moved the pieces to the German city of Königsberg. Since then, its whereabouts have never been confirmed, and the fate of the priceless artifacts remains a mystery.
Matryoshka Dolls
These interlocking dolls have become a symbol of Russia, and not many tourists who visit the country leave without purchasing one, but their origin actually has a strong connection to Japan. The doll was created by Sergey Malyutin, a crafts painter who was trying to design a Russian doll that would last for generations.
Many believe that he was inspired by the Japanese Daruma doll and that when he examined it, he discovered that it held a doll within a doll and so on. This clearly gave him a great idea, and that was how the first Matryoshka doll was born in 1890.
Fishing Frenzy
Russia is home to many rivers, lakes, and seas, and therefore it is no surprise that Russians are crazy about fishing and that fish are an important part of their diet. Every fisherman believes he has the best method, but Russians are experts in ice fishing. When the temperatures drop below freezing, and the lakes freeze over, they can finally get to work.
They start by cutting a hole in the ice with an ice saw, or slightly less convenient, an auger or a chisel. The lures they use include fatheads, wax worms, and crappies. Fishing in most places is known as a manly pastime, but in Russia, the women are just as avid to catch some fish as the men, and maybe even more so. So, if while visiting you see some women on the ice, there’s no need to be surprised.
Subbotnik
The Trashtag challenge is getting people together to clean things up, and that is something that everyone can get behind. It’s nice to see people looking up from their phones and actually getting something done, but the Russians have been doing the same thing for a little over a century, and they didn’t need a clever hashtag to do it.
One day each year, which is known as Subbotnik, the residents of every city get together and just clean it up as a community. They pick up garbage, fix things that are broken and take care of recycling. The tradition started not long after the Russian Revolution and has been going on ever since
Fraud is Rampant
In the United States, dashboard cameras are mostly used by the authorities, and the footage taken by them can mostly be seen in court or on Cops. In Russia, however, almost every car on the road has its own personal dashcam, and the videos from these cameras have become an Internet phenomenon.
In a country that is extremely large and in which law enforcement is oftentimes corrupt, the dashcams protect regular citizens from insurance fraud, in which motorists or pedestrians fake car accidents in order to collect the insurance money.