The Karelian Isthmus, north of Saint Petersburg, was Finnish until 1940, and the place names still carry the echo: Pargolovo, Levashovo, Kuokkala, now called Repino. The Yukki Heights, or Yukkovskaya Elevation, are among the higher ground on this stretch, a ridge of sandy hills and pine forest scattered with summer houses. Many of the datchas date from the late nineteenth century, when wealthy Petersburgers began to build wooden villas with carved trim and glassed verandas among the pines.
One of the best known sits on the sea, in Repino, where the painter Ilya Repin lived from 1903 until his death in 1930. His estate, called the Penates, is now a museum, and the house, with its eccentric octagonal studio and garden, gives a sense of the artistic life of the period. Orlov's datcha belongs to the same tradition. Not far from here, the Levashovo Wasteland is the site of a memorial cemetery for victims of the repressions of the 1930s, and the pine woods hold a heavy silence.
The nearest towns, Pargolovo and Levashovo, are small, while Sertolovo, about five kilometres away, has over forty thousand people and has fuel and shops. The Priozerskoye Highway, which runs northwest toward Lake Ladoga, is the main artery, and it is busy with traffic at weekends. Quiet roads leave the highway through the villages, with sandy verges and wooden fences.
Riding here is gentle, with smooth roads and low hills. The air smells of pine resin and wood smoke, and in autumn the birch leaves fall in drifts. Mosquitoes are active in summer, and the weather can turn quickly, so keep waterproofs handy. The Gulf of Finland coast is not far, with sandy beaches and sunsets that last for hours in June. In winter the pine woods are dark and silent, and the roads can be icy.