ST PETERSBURG--DAY 3

PROBABLY APPROPRIATE TO REMIND YOU TO USE THE "BLOG ARCHIVE" ON RIGHT SIDE JUST BELOW ITINERARY TO SELECT POSTINGS I MADE DURING JULY.  ALSO AFTER VIEWING PHOTOS AND READING THE CAPTIONS UNDER THEM, YOU CAN GO BACK AND CLICK ON PHOTOS TO ENLARGE THEM FOR BETTER VIEW.

                                          A gaudy NCL ship arriving this morning

                                            Royal Princess ship arrived this morning early

        The Catherine Palace is a Rococo style summer residence of Russian Tsars  & Empresses 20 miles southeast of St Petersburg in the town of Pushkin.  Peter the Great had it built for Catherine.  It originated in 1717 but was expanded in 1733 by Empress Elizabeth, the daughter of Catherine.  In 1752 she had it demolished and rebuilt.  Completed in 1756 this is the Palace we saw today.  Over 230 pounds of gold were used to gild the sophisticated stucco facade and numerous statues on the roof.  Similar to Peter the Great's Grand Palace, the Catherine Palace is 1000 feet long and was pretty much destroyed by the Germans during WWII.  The reconstruction was partially completed by 2003 there is still a lot of work to be done to restore it to its former glory.  Of the 120 original rooms, only 54 are open now.  I have to tell you that this Palace was not nearly as impressive as Peterhof which we visited yesterday, especially the gardens.
We were allowed today to take photos inside the Palace except for one room, the Amber Room.  There the walls were lined with the yellowish jewel stones, amber.  Over two tons of amber were used on the walls and it was very beautiful.  This is not the original amber as the Nazis took it back to Germany.
        We were all invited to dine with Davor, the General Manager, tonight in Compass Rose restaurant.  I had to reluctantly decline his invitation as we had already planned to celebrate Charlotte's birthday in Prime 7, the steakhouse.  We were suppose to go on another tour, "Canal Cruise & Shopping", this afternoon but only Jane went.  I wanted to get this posting done and will be starting to pack some of our luggage today instead of doing it all tomorrow when in Tallinn, Estonia.  The next morning we will be disembarking the ship in Stockholm, Sweden.  BOO!

                                                          Our tour for today

                                   Band playing for tips as we walked from our bus to Palace

                                                  Approaching the Palace grounds entrance

                                                                     Entrance gates

                        Our guide, Anna.  All of our guides the past three days have been great.

                                                         Catherine Palace

                                           Buildings across the grounds of Palace

                                                  Entrance to inside of Palace

                        Again today we have to wear booties over our shoes during the tour.

                                                 Photos of the rooms we visited

                                      This is model of what the original Palace looked like

                                                               Ball room

 These ceramic things were used to heat room.  Not sure how they worked since no chimney.  Our guide said they did not work very well and in bedroom Catherine made servants come in and exercise so their body heat would warm the room.

                                    This dining room was only used one time per year

                                            This dining room is where she entertained.

 This is the coronation dress of Elizabeth, Catherine and Peter the Great's daughter.  Elizabeth ruled from 1741-1762.

                                              This is portrait of Catherine the Great

                                                     Portrait of her son, Alexander I

                                             George and Laura Bush visited here

This was a bath house.  There were two of them and guests invited to dine with Catherine had to bathe before dining.

                 The blue part of Palace is painted cover over facade while they are renovating it.

           This is in the bath house and these four men sang a Russian song for us.  VERY good!

                               Church in one end of Palace but not open or renovated inside yet.

      This is the Mariinsky Theatre which opened in 1860 as place for opera and ballet performances.