Datcha Days
Most Russians live in apartment blocks these days and so many of the city dwellers want to have something that is peculiarly Russian: a datcha . If I said that this was a "country house", then you might think of a French chateau or an English stately home, whereas a datcha is usually quite a humble affair, a small bungalow or even a hut. Some have electricity and running water, but many do not. Sometimes you get to your datcha by driving on a proper road, but in most cases it will be a rough, muddy track for the final kilometres. Fruit trees, flowers and vegetables are the order of the day in the datcha . Nothing very special or splendid, just a simple, rural home-from-home. Picking blackcurrants for Mamulichka. Although Mamuluchka also has ducks and chickens, this is not normal because many Russians only go to the datcha at the weekends and holidays. A datcha , therefore, is more like an allotment with somewhere to live, but the living space is sometimes not ...