mixed bag!

This guy caught us off guard. We had just walked through Alexander's palace and saw these "priceless" pictures hanging on a wall. As we left the same palace, we saw this fella (forever known as Skippy), taking them out and loading them into this vehicle. No guards, no bubble wrap, no machine guns. Just Skippy in his 1995 who knows what brand of van. (We knew he worked for the museum, so at least nothing was getting stolen.) Makes me wonder if they will find the Fabrege egg I found in coat room?

The happy travelers in front of Catherine's palace. Wonder if Hill picked the scarf to match the place?

One stop we wanted to make was to find the exact Apt building where Maria (Jordan's Fiance, not our tour guide!) lived before she and her folks moved from St Petersburg to the U.S. As it turned out, the place was no more than 10 minutes off the beaten path from our road trip to the palace. We were able to take a lot photos for Maria and her family and it was so remarkable that we found it with so much ease. Karma!

This is one of the most photographed sites in all of St. Petersburg. As such, we have 754 pictures of it. It's the Church of Spilled Blood, (formal name might be Church of the Resurrection). It was built to honor one of the fallen Tsars. It is absolutely one of the most unusual and beautiful buildings we have ever seen. Hillary had been dreaming about seeing this church for years. The colored tops are actually made from tile. And the person who created the tile tops, was eventually commissioned to do similar work in new subway stops in Moscow after the revolution. He did so, but was paid little, moved back to St. Petersburg and died of starvation during the infamous Seige of St Petersburg (the city was shut off from the "world" for almost 900 days by Germans during WWII). What a tragic ending, given the beauty, skill and creativity this man left for us all to see. This will go down as one of the most fabulous buildings I will ever see in life.

Alexander's Palace.

On the same property as Catherine's Palace was Alexander's Palace. While the outside looks fancy, this was a VERY understated palace and one that for us held some "emotional" interest. This was the palace that the last Tsar of Russia and his family lived, before he abdicated the crown, was swept away to Siberia and all were executed. The Tsar, of course, was Nicolas II. Consensus was he didn't really want to be Tsar, was perceived as a weak leader, but was in line after his father died. He was more interested in his family, loved his 5 children, yet took over the crown during one of the most turbulent times in Russian history, the Russian Revolution during the early 1900"s. Rather than living in St Petersburg, he moved his family to this "palace" in 1905, and ruled from it.


The palace was so interesting in that we could tour the rooms where they actually lived from 1905-1917 before they were kidnapped. As mentioned, the rooms were very understated. Each showed actual photos of the room, then featured much of their actual furniture. This picture shows a sitting room and how they had it set up.

Yes, its authentic. Not sure who or where it was killed, but it belonged to the Tsar's family in one of their sitting rooms. Frankly, I was kind of creeped out by it. Fear that I would trip over it's head in the middle of the night. Or it might leap onto my bed. And it needed its teeth brushed.

If you look closely, you will see part of a picture of Tsar Nicolas II's family. It's a famous photo that shows them all, to include Alexi, their son, who was the hemopheliac, and Anastasia, the daughter who rumor had it had actually survived the family execution. (Not true...her bones were found). Anyway, these outfits where the originals from the picture. Very interesting moment to see the picture AND the clothes. Wanted to leave this exhibit quickly, though.

Catherine's Palace Continued

Earlier I mentioned that we had the best tour guide in life. Well, meet Maria. She is from St. Petersburg and not only was she kind of adorable to be around, she knew more about Russian History that we ever could have imagined. And every decade, revolution, change, etc. This picture is Lori, Hillary, Maria outside of Catherine's Palace. There's a really great story about that small Turkish mosque behind us, but for the life of me, I do not remember it. At all.

This was an amazing display right in the palace. It was Peter the Great's Chess Set. Yep. Right here, in bold red and white. Don't know what it's made of but if you can zoom in on the pieces, they are all patterned after Chinese figures.

I only put this picture in for one reason. It looks like a mirror reflecting back an image of doorways. And kind of ad infinatum. Actually, we are looking through a door to other doors. And more doors. And then a few more doors. All guilded. This is along just one hall of the palace. Remember, too. This place was used about 2-3 nights per year.

Remember how I mentioned previously that the palace had been virtually destroyed during WWII? In the basement of the palace they had lots of pictures that showed before and after shots of rooms destroyed. The room to the left which held this bomb has already been restored. Remarkable. Of note, for those Dr. Strangelove fans, I did not see Slim Pickens anywhere in the room:)