Perhaps, too, in the early morning you may learn in an unpleasant way that other parts of the old system are not yet extinct.

You may hear, for instance, resounding along the corridors such an order as--"Petrusha! Petrusha! Stakan vody!" ("Little Peter, little Peter, a glass of water!") shouted in a stentorian voice that would startle the Seven Sleepers.
When the toilet operations are completed, and you order tea--one always orders tea in Russia--you will be asked whether you have your own tea and sugar with you.

If you are an experienced traveller you will be able to reply in the affirmative, for good tea can be bought only in certain well-known shops, and can rarely be found in hotels.

A huge, steaming tea-urn, called a samovar--etymologically, a "self-boiler"-- will be brought in, and you will make your tea according to your taste.

The tumbler, you know of course, is to be used as a cup, and when using it you must be careful not to cauterise the points of your fingers.