A Grand Coronation

My Friends, it has been my great pleasure to experience a magnificent event.  Though the past few weeks have been filled with intrigue, all has been made up in the Catherine's fantastic coronation.  I shall have tales to spread of the event for years to come.  You must forgive me if the events are not quite the clearest in my mind.  The Russian's surely know how to celebrate, and it has been my privilege to trade  a tale or two for a drink more than once during the festivities.  I get ahead of myself.  Allow me to set the stage.
In order to comprehend the importance of the events I will describe, we must first take a brief moment in the past.  According to a woman named Suzanne Massey, Tsarina Elizabeth, may God rest her soul, had bestowed the right to rule upon her nephew, Peter.  It became obvious rather quickly that Peter was not very good at his job.  He married Princess Sophia of Germany, who in a rather clever move, was baptized into the Russian Orthodox church and rechristened Catherine (128-130).
The people loved their new princess.  It has often been spoken in pubs and at churches that Catherine may be more Russian than Peter himself.
After many long and unhappy years, Elizabeth died, passing the crown to Peter.  However, Peter was not to have it long.  Just a few short months after achieving the throne, the palace guards, with Catherine's own lover leading the charge, put Catherine in the role of ruler of all Russia (Massey 130).
This brings us to the coronation.  Oh, what a coronation!  Tales will never do it justice, but though the years may try to dim the memory, it will certainly live on in the hearts of this people through the ages.  The first thing of note was the bells.  Bells are certainly common in Moscow, but a bell unlike any other rang out that day.  Deep and low, this bell was.  One said it was "like the Fullest and lowest tones of a vast organ, or the rolling of distant thunder" (Dixon 4).  This was a summons felt to the very soul of everyone in the city.  It compelled the foundation of every man to heed its call, and come we did.  The crowd gathered seemed to contain every man woman and child in Moscow.  Scarcely could one move through the crowds, and I found myself lucky to gain a vantage where I could see the procession.

Catherine, Dressed for her Coronation

It was a grand sight to behold.  Catherine embodied grandeur as she crossed the square from the church to the palace within the Kremlin.  Her robe, a gorgeous silver, was stunning.  Surely, a finer garment never graced the throne in Moscow.  However, the dress itself paled in comparison with the crown upon her head.  Even from my distant vantage, the crown sparkled like the night sky condensed and laid upon her brow.  Indeed, the entire treasury must have been then located upon her head (Massey 132).  There she stood, a gilded angel before five full regiments of palace guard arrayed in their finest (Dixon, 5).  A fitting audience, given they were the ones who had run the coup that put her in power.
However, the most meaningful part of the celebration to the Russian people is the food and drink!  The feasting lasted a whole week, with almost never a break.  I myself have forgotten most of what I ate, but the stories and songs were shared by all.  These Russians, a people who excel at leisure, never fail to impress with their feasting.  It was as if they expected to never eat or drink again after.  An event to be remembered, for sure.

Refferences
Massie, Suzanne.  Land of the Firebird: The Beauty of Old Russia.  HeartTree Press, 1980.
Dixon, Simon.  Catherine the Great.  Profile Books LTD, 2010.