We arrived back in Moscow at around 2.00 am this morning and we've had a slow start to the day today.
Just finished the washing and other domestic duties….
Our first stop yesterday was Tsarskoe Selo about 20 kms out of St Petersburg. It was rather chilly, but the sun was out and the vista…. amazing.
I's like fort knox getting into the Palace, and everyone is humorless… "smile honey, it's free" you have to have a guide and ours was miss personality plus.
Well I could see from her demeanor that she's not going to be too friendly. Translated from Russian… "Pay attention, don't ask me any questions and don't interrupt"
I can tell you, that didn't go down too well with this Aussie who didn't follow the rules and wandered at will, so I gathered a lot of withering looks.
Catherine's Palace and the surrounding parks were created by Empress Elizabeth and Catherine the Great, which is why Pushkin was formerly known as 'village of the tsar's' (Tsarskoe Selo). The palace, with its famous Amber Room, is an impressive post-WWII reconstruction.
It's an amazing place, can you imagine that they have a room completely made of amber….. actually one wonders why?
A few interesting men. They just sit around all day legless….!!
We're lucky that the weather has been kind to us and we wandered the grounds of the Palace
Oi, I love this sort of thing.
You have to wear these dinky slippers over your shoes. The parquetry floor is a quilt on its own… but the guide gave me a nasty look when I pretended I was roller skating.
Gold, gold and more gold. More than 100 kilograms of gold were used to gild the sophisticated stucco.
Every ceiling is painted in this fashion. I would love to lay in bed and look up at this vista.
I use blue and white china, willow, spode, english…. I just love it, so I want one of these in my dining room please….
What is it?
It's a porcelain covered heater… coal or wood fired…. I need one in my house.
Quilt design floors.
Amber.
