Colorful does not adequately describe Goritsy. The little gingerbread styled homes in this village come in every color that you can imagine. This tiny village was once very rich as it was home to the nunnery where Ivan the Terrible sent his aunt Yefronsinya to a life of seclusion so she could not support her son as a successor to the throne. However even being in exile didn't help her (Ivan was very paranoid) and several other high-born nuns at the convent as Ivan had his guards drown them in the Sheksna River that ran nearby. 300 years later a massive Cathedral was built over their graves.
After a walking tour of the nunnery grounds, we walked a short distance to a village home that we were invited to visit. The lady of this home was so excited she was having company from America, that she went out and had her hair done this morning. She baked gingerbread cookies for us and seemed to delight in giving us a tour of her sparkling clean home. The gingerbread cookies did not taste like gingerbread, but more like a butter cookie. When you look at the photos, notice the detailed gingerbread trim around the windows and roof. Her husband is a woodworker and made all the trim. She had a twig broom to sweep the steps, jars of sauerkraut on the porch, three beds on the porch for her grandchildren, an electric washing machine, and summer deck area.
The tour of this village ended with a visit to the local school. Our tour was led by 16 year old Natasha, a ninth grader who wants to be a psychologist, takes English as her second language, and doesn't have a boyfriend. The computer room had 10 PC computers that looked rather old, however one of the classrooms was using a "smart board". In addition to a couple of classrooms, and the school museum recognizing people who fought and died in WWII, we saw the auditorium and exercise room with weight equipment.