St. Petersburg, Catherine's Palace

Now back to my travelogue of my Baltic/Russian Tour.

One of the "must see" places is Catherine's Palace, part of Tsarkoe Selo (Royal Village).

Looking through the magnificent gilded gates at the palace, beloved of Catherine the Great, in the distance.


Typical of the gowns worn in that era. Can you imagine wearing such a contraption?

The Gold Room. Note the blue booties we all had to wear to protect the beautiful floors.

Such splendor! There were many, many rooms to tour, one more sumptuous than the next. One of the most impressive was the Amber Room, made entirely of carved amber. It was spectacular. No photos allowed.

These gorgeous tile stoves were in many of the rooms. But they were not actually heaters, just for show.

Fabulous sculptures were everywhere, but I was especially won over by these darling marble cherubs, one facing left, the other right.

The grounds were also impressive with formal gardens, ponds and fountains.

We had lunch here at the Podrovie Restaurant with many courses of typical Russian food (delicious!) and our first opportunity for VODKA SHOTS. If you had told me earlier that I would be throwing back shots of vodka, I would have said you were crazy. But when in Rome..... There is a whole set of rules for drinking the vodka. I only had two that day, but some in the group had five or six. Needless to say, we had a lot of fun and no one had to drive home. After that shots were offered at most meals, even the elegant restaurants.