The kindness of strangers: we thought we’d been poisoned at Tolstoy’s house. Then a local explained what we had really drunk

We took thirsty chugs from the tall glasses. Surely this ‘water’ belonged in a biohazard chamber, not our mouths

• Read more in the kindness of strangers series

In July 2019 I travelled to Russia with my sister and a friend. As three bookish girls, our highlight would be a pilgrimage to Yasnaya Polyana, Leo Tolstoy’s country house.

The trip was already punctuated with comical mistakes and miscommunications. We couldn’t speak Russian, and it was our first experience in a country where no locals come to your aid to translate.