St. Petersburg, Russia 6-22/23

Amongst the surreal beauty there is still this harsh reality.

Peterhof Palace

This is the Peterhof Palace just outside St. Petersburg. The gardens are extensive and cover many acres. The fountains are elaborate and provide wonderful scenes for pictures. We did not tour the palace but had lunch in the cafe located in the gardens. Peter the Great built this palace to rival any court palaces in Europe.

Our Evening at Catherine's Palace

Our evening at Catherine's Palace consisted of dinner and entertainment. Lyndon was even asked to dance with one of the female entertainers but the pictures were out of focus as they were moving so fast! The music was really fun - but the food less than fair. Russians are not cooks, they should take lessons from the Germans or Italians! Great evening!

St. Petersburg, Russia 6-22/23

This is Catherine's Palace in Pushkin which used to be called Village of the Czars but subsequently named for one of Russia's most famous authors. We enjoyed an evening of dinner and entertainment here. (Looks like I duplicated a photo - Suzanne you can delete it if you want - thanks)

St. Petersburg, Russia 6-22/23

The Hermitage Museum. This museum is overwhelming in size and the vast collections of original paintings housed here is mind-boggling. There are literally hundreds of originals by Cezanne, Picasso, Rembrandt, Renoir, Matisse, Monet, Van Gogh, and so many others. The collection was begun by Catherine the Great (Catherine II) who was Peter the Great's daughter. She sent representatives throughout Europe to purchase art and other items so that her collection would rival any other in the world. There are 2.7 million paintings and 5 million pieces in the entire collection. If you stood in front of each painting for 1 minute, it would take you 11 years to view them all. Unfortunately, they are virtually unprotected from sunlight and are quite exposed to room air.