Day 8 -- Peterhof Gardens, Catherine's Palace, folklore show.
Just a random shot off the bus as we head out of town; there is so much history here,
you can't possibly cover every little monument you find.
Travelling through the countryside toward the town of Peterhof (Petrodvorets).
Making our way past the church into the entrance.
The gardens are immense, and occur to us like "Versailles done right".
Everything is immaculately groomed.
Follow the tour guide with the scarf on a stick.
Hercules ripping open the mouth of some giant fish.
The palm trees are in pots, as they have to be taken inside a greenhouse for the winter.
It is summer, so everything is beautifully colored.
Water is a main feature of the gardens. Here is a long waterfall with statues on either side,
and a Chinese dragon at the top.
One of the main boulevards, set up with hidden sprinklers to soak the guests.
This "tree" is actually a big set of sprinklers.
This has a hidden sensor to try to catch the guests off guard.
Wade trying to beat the sprinklers.
Peter the Great, all 6'7" of him.
Another "small" fountain.
One of many gardens.
Another trick fountain, intended to lure the guests toward a secluded bench.
At one end of the gardens is a cottage house with patios overlooking the Baltic.
You can see the great spire in the backgrouind.
Kimberly and Poseidon.
Detail of another fountain.
Approaching the main house.
We want to impress the guests that are arriving.
Us with the main waterfalls and fountains.
From the top of the waterfalls looking back out toward the Baltic.
This is just the summer gardens.
The second word is "museum", but I can't figure out the first word.
We stop at a cafeteria outside the gardens for a mix of lunch things.
This is the Russian equivalent of "make your commemorative coin". Instead of a machine, they put the
die and a blank into the holder on top of the log, and you have to hit it with a sledgehammer.
Now on to the village of Pushkin to see Catherine's Palace.
Just wait here at the gate.
Just inside the gate, looking at the courtyard where the carriages would roll up.
One wing of the guest building to the right is just to contain her wardrobe.
The main entrance; we don't use that.
Showing the detail of the art on the outside of the building.
These guys work all day to hold the building up.
Wade putting on his protective booties to save the floor.
We were happy to see this, as they didn't do anything to protect the floors at the Hermitage.
Up the guest entrance staircase...
...to the grand ballroom.
Ridiculous amounts of gilding on everything.
A Danish furnace made of porcelain, one of two for this room.
Out the window toward the courtyard. Guest cottages on one side, the wardrobe on the other.
It looks like the wedding party should sit here, but it's just dinner at Catherine's.
The green foil room; that is green aluminum foil crinkled behind glass; it was all the rage
and tremendouisly expensive when it was first invented. Now you can get it at the dollar store.
One of many portraits of Catherine.
One wall of a room full of paintings and portraits.
Her private dining area.
As we leave, here is the line to get in, winding down the sidewalk.
This is why it's good to go with a tour group; they have a separate entrance usually.
We can read this one: Ekaterina Park.
Egyptian styling was all the rage as well, so the gate is done with hieroglyphics.
We walked a few blocks from the hotel and found this Italian cafe.
It was crowded, so we got seating in the bar.
But the food was good: pizza for Kimberly, spaghetti carbonara for Wade.
This is the picture hanging on the wall in our room in the hotel. It made us smile.
That night, we had the Russian folklore evening. We were expecting a small bar stage with cafe tables,
but got a real production show in this 300-seat theater.
The costuming was very well done.
They switched out for various types of singing and dancing.
At intermission, they set out a snack tray for us: salmon tarts, cheese tarts, fruit tarts,
orange juice and sparkling wine.
Cossack songs and dances.
Here is a sample of some singing.
The precision of the dancing was excellent.
This dude is 70 years old, dancing like this.
