Day 9 -- Rasputin, travel to Novgorod, Be My Guest Dinner.
A last picture stop in Saint Petersburg included this actual sphinx from Egypt.
For the morning, we went to Yusupov Palace to hear about the intrigues of Rasputin.
You can take some pictures of the palace if you pay for a photographing license. We had someone with
a photographing license take this one of us.
The story of Rasputin (right) and the plot to kill him unfolds in several dioramas that look like this.
We were on our own for lunch, but we had seen this Indian food place next to St. Isaac's.
It turned out to be a really nice place.
We got the standard papadoms, but they came with a mint sauce instead.
Our favorites include chicken tikka masala...
...and aloo gobi.
We are at another Park Inn hotel in Novgorod; this is how the lobby is decorated.
Some pretty flowers out in front of the hotel.
Across the bridge back toward Novgorod.
We went on a walking tour that went past this statue of Rachmaninoff, who is from Novgorod.
Little kitsch stands in the park.
Toward the main kremlin (fortress) of Novgorod...
...and through the gate.
The eternal flame for the WWII victims from Novgorod.
Obligatory picture of Kimberly with a lion.
The Millenium Monument, which contains a short history of Russia in its statues.
Around the base are prominent figures through history...
...and on top, the great military conquests. At the very top, of course, is mother Russia
kneeling before the church.
St. Sophia Cathedral.
An ancient bell tower, with the bells down below.
Two-man beach volleyball on the riverbank. It is the warm season.
That night, we had the Trafalgar "Be My Guest" dinner. In this case, we went out to this traditional,
family-owned restaurant.
We are greeted with music, and with bread and salt (you dip the bread in the salt).
Our welcoming song.
The table is set with the salad course...
...and of course, plenty of bread.
They are all family members, and all play a variety of instruments. You have to love the
three-string bass balalaika on the right.
They made us drink a welcome drink, some vodka, and mulled wine at different points.
A course of borscht. It was pretty good, like chunky vegetable soup with some beans.
It's actually much better with the dollop of sour cream.
This is the mulled wine. They have a different name for it, of course.
A savory stew course that contained chicken, pork, and lots of forest mushroom in it.
Later on, after drinking, they got us playing the instruments...
...and dancing with them.
For dessert, the ubiquitous pancakes, this time with fruit and fruit sauce.
As a token of the evening, we are each presented with this good luck charm: a large-breasted woman.
